NU: Birth of the Seekers
by 26-Lord-Pain
Summary: AU, MASS-X-OVER, DARK/Naruto! NaruX?. World lost to darkness, his heart fell as well. Now as he struggles to live in a new land, soon he finds a new life to live... one much darker than even that of a ninja... WARNING KH-BBS Spoilers...
1. Dive into HearProlouge

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, I wish I did however cause I wish I was rich… sigh…

_A Fanfic created by 26 Lord Pain…_

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_'Falling…'_

A blue eye slowly flutters open to view the dark world around it, then closes once more at the feeling of weightlessness…

_'I'm falling…'_

The eye opens once more to look "Up" the sky rapidly disappearing as he plummeted closer and closer to the ground below…

_'But… what am I falling into…'_

The eye opens once more to gaze around, only to see specks of light shooting passed him and towards where the ground should be…

_'Maybe… maybe I'm dreaming…'_

Slowly tilting his head to look down, the blue-eyed boy sees water, and plummets into it, fading deeper and deeper into the dark depths of this oceanic tomb…

_'But if this is all a dream…then why…'_

The boy falls deeper and deeper still into the water, soon seeing the endless black consume his vision once more while falling deeper still…

'_Then why am I all alone?'_

A blond haired boy slowly awakes, a groan escaping his lips as he stands up, ankle deep in sand and looks around himself to find a desert… However the boy quickly turns, only to take a step back upon seeing a warrior dressed in gold and red armor knelling into the ground before him, before the man is a strange looking weapon that resembles a cross between a sword and a key. Silently, the armored figure rose up from his kneeling position and then pulled the massive weapon before him out of the ground, only to point it at the blond boy and lunge forward.

The man distorted the air around him he moved at such a speed, appearing right behind the shocker blond who turned his head and widened his eyes seeing the armored soldier behind him. The soldier lunged at the blond once more, hitting him with his strange weapon and sending him flying into and through a mountain. The blond rolled along the ground behind the mountain, soon managing to right himself into a skid, his teeth gritted as the soldier with the red and gold armor came rushing towards him.

This time however something attacked the man, knocking him to the side where he used his strange weapon to slow down. The person who attacked the Enigmatic Soldier was shrouded by dust from his attack on the warrior. Shaking his head the blond slowly got up, barely making out a silhouette of a figure before the ground split beneath him and he fell further bellow, deeper into darkness…

The blond found himself falling into darkness, soon however, he saw something else, and a strange glow coming from the ground below as he slowly turned. His feet touched down on solid ground, as he did however numerous birds flew up off the strange platform in the endless darkness. Following the birds the blond watched as they reached out into the endless void of darkness before looking to the new flow as it began to glow.

The floor seemed made of stained glass, on it was a odd scene: The scene it showed had a man in a hooded cloak at the forefront, numerous silhouettes behind him with three circles. In the circle to the left, there was a red haired man with violet eyes and two marks on his face under his eyes. In the one above was a silver haired man with tanned skin and yellow eyes. And last to the right was a blond haired boy who had blue eyes, but his hair spiked at an angle unlike the almost "Sun" shaped hair and no "Whiskers" on his face, unlike that of the blond looking down at the scene.

_"Welcome…"_ Came a crisp voice from seemingly everywhere and nowhere at the same time… _"Do not be afraid, I am merely here to help you on your journey…"_ The voice came once more and the blond boy looked around himself. _"Now first… lets have a look at you…"_ The voice came and the blond felt like eyes were all around the area just looking at him with a disturbing fascination…

He was simple really, his bright blond hair was spiked out in every direction possible, a long black head band with a metal plate was on his brow over his bright blue eyes, his skin was tanned but not overly so, with a light athletic build, on each of his cheeks he had three whisker marks, and his outfit was dominated by a ghastly orange and black jumpsuit… _"Hmm… no, I think not… that won't do at all… I know what will do however…"_ The voice mused to itself, probably ignoring the scowl on the face of the blond haired youth as with a snapping of nonexistent fingers the blond's attire changed in a flash of blue and violet flames…

He now wears a hooded jacket, it is mostly red with a b T shape up the front like on his jumpsuit, heart shaped shoulder guards are strapped around his shoulders with the sleeves of the jacket rolled up, revealing them to be black on the inside while a strap curves over the rolled up sleeves to attach to the shoulder guard, the front of the coat rising up to block any view of his lower face when zipped up with the hood pulled up over his bright blond hair completely obscuring his face from view. Over his arms is a pair of black gloves the reach up to cover his forearms, a pair of red gloves pulled over those and cuffed around his wrists with a metal plate at the back of each fist.

His legs are covered by a pair of black pants that cut off half way down his calves, a red belt around his waist with red straps crossing from both sides to a pair of red pouches at his thighs, more red belts curving around his thighs and his lower back to hold them onto his legs firmly. Last he now has a black pouch resting at the back of his waist with a pair of crimson colored sandal boots that reach up to mid calf to cover what little bit of his legs is left bare by his short pants, with a black heel and sole and black bands around his ankles and the base of his calves…

_"Ah, that's much better…"_ The voice says, praising its work while the boy looks at his new clothes with obvious awe, though wonders why the voice gave it to him... _"Now now… there will be time for questions later, for now we have much work to do…"_ The voice came again, startling the boy from his revere and the blond reaches up, slowly zipping the front of the jacket down all the way, allowing him to pull the hood down, revealing his face, sun kissed blond hair, and that he has a tight black shirt on under the jacket that reaches up his neck.

_"Now, if you're ready…"_ The voice comes and with a flash of light a weapon appears hovering over the ground. It seems to be a sword at first, with a three-foot long blade that has a curved heart shape cut out of it, the area attached to the blade is gold while turning blue when it attaches to the handle, the pommel of the weapon is gold as well, while the cross-guard is crimson, and almost looks like flames as it curls down from above the handle down into the pommel… (Dark Heart Keyblade…)

_"Go on… take it…"_ The voice said and the blond hesitated for only a second before taking hold of the weapons hilt and shivering as ebony flames formed over his arm and the weapon for a few moments. Looking at the weapon once more, the blond then finds what looks like shadows moving below him swallow him up, dragging him back into darkness once more…

The blond boy soon found himself struggling against nothing, he got up and rubbed the back of his neck at this. _"Now then, Hand to Hand came before armed combat. Without it, there would be no swords nor shields nor any other weapon that we use today…"_ Came the voice and then Naruto saw the area around him light up, revealing the stained glass area beneath him this time. This one had another silver haired man with tan skin and yellow eyes. However, this man wore a strange outfit, having white gloves, a black leather trench coat, and a white button down shirt, anything else was cut off however. Behind this man was a strange creature however; it was large, looked to be blue and black with wrappings here and there over its form and a pair of bright yellow eyes.

Five circles were around this figure, with strange red heart shaped emblems between those. From left to right they went like this: in the first circle was a strange insect like creature, the next one looked similar to it only it was seemingly bigger and had blue veins over its form, the next one looked like a head with strange tendril hair that wrapped around its face, leaving only those large yellow eyes bare, the next one was shaped like a ball, with a large manic grin and yellow eyes, and finally, the last one looked odd, having a demonic face with two large horns coming out of it's head.

"_However, movement is essential to ALL forms of combat, so lets start out with movement…"_ The voice said and the blond looked at his arms then nodded his head in agreement with the voice. _"Good, then you can jump, run, flip and move in any way you can for a little while…"_ The voice offered and the blond rubbed the back of his neck, still holding the strange weapon in hand he jumped up and flipped into the center of the circle. The blond then ran around the platform a few times before flipping three times into the center once more.

The blond then slid forward, swinging the strange blade upwards and quickly moved his hand back, allowing him to land in a crouch. Smirking, the blond then spin on his heel and into a spinning jump, slashing his blade outward along the way and landing on one foot. However, he then fell down and groaned as he lifted a hand to his head, feeling both dizzy and foolish for doing that. Flipping up onto his feet, the blond began to take a few swings with his blade while inching forward, then rolled backwards, forwards and ducked to the sides a few times to see how much maneuverability he had…

"_Excellent… now then, lets try a new type of mobility shall we…"_ The voice came and the blond raised a brow, until a bright light came from his side and he turned to see another strange blade. This one had a blade that was about two feet long, with a two foot long black handle, with a blue cats eye jewel near the very base of the hilt while the cross guard curved out and attached to the pommel, looking like some form of gear, the blade was designed strangely up to a golden gear shape, from the gear shape it had a straight silver bar that attached to another blue cats eye jewel, with a red almost gear like shape took up the head of the blade, giving it a key like shape. (Dark Soldier Key…)

Looking at the strange weapon, the blond immediately noticed it was MUCH thicker looking than the current blade he had. So walking forward, he took hold of it with his left hand, slightly amazed by the fact it didn't weigh as much as he thought it would. _"Now then toss that to the ground…"_ The voice came and the blond looked around, thinking the voice was crazy before doing as told, only to blanch as the strange key began to hover off the ground.

Shaking his head, the blond hops onto the key and has to balance himself lest he falls off. _"Don't worry… take your time to get used to it first…"_ The voice tells him and Naruto leans forward on the key and is surprised when it lurches forward ever so slightly, before he shifts his weight to the right, the blade tilting that way. Smirking slightly, the blond grinds his feet into the blade and shifts his weight forward, the blade goes flying forward and the blond has to quickly shift his weight to the side in order to avoid flying off the pedestal. However, instead, a long chain of pedestals appeared and the blond looked around, before then flying off along the numerous steps like path.

He soon came to a new stained glass floor and raised a brow when he saw it. It had a desert scene on it, with three figures made to dominate it, one in red/gold armor with an almost dog shaped helmet, then another in gold/silver armor with a similar helmet to the first one, and last was one in Violet/silver armor whose helmet seemed to have wings on the sides, a cape traveled down the backs of each armored warrior and strange emblems were forming all along the edge of the scene.

The blond then got an idea and leaned forward on the blade, while also shifting his weight back, trying to flip. However he wasn't fast enough and instead he fell off the blade and to his ass, while the blade then fell to his side. Groaning in pain and slowly getting up, the blond mentally decided to wait until he had more experience before he tried that trick ever again. _"Good, you understand how to move quite well…now… time for your next lesson…"_ The voice came once more as a portal appeared at the side. Looking at it, Naruto grabbed the blade at his side and tossed it into the air, then ran and jumped onto it, flying into the portal with a grin…

The blond boy flew out of the portal, and flipped off the blade, quickly catching it with his left hand he then stuck it onto his back, however he now looked around at this new area. This time the scene on the stained glass looked just as strange as the last one had… This one had a brown haired boy leaning back into a circular pattern, a strange key-shaped weapon like the blonds own in one hand, circles with crowns flowed over most of the area where the boy was then around in a perfect circle, beside of the boy's head were four circles, in these circles held a girl with short hair, a boy with shoulder length hair, a duck with a hat, and a dog like face with a hat, below the circle with these faces however looked to be the edge of an island of some kind…

_"Now then… lets see if you can fight with your new weapons…"_ The voice mused to itself as creatures suddenly appeared before the blond. These creatures were black in color, with curled feelers on their heads, sharp-clawed hands, two large yellow eyes, and no toes on their feet. Gripping the strange weapon in his hands, the blond lunged forward, swinging his weapon into the first of the creatures sent it flying while twisting on his heel he managed to connect with the next one's body and chop it in half.

However, he didn't see the one behind him until it had managed to claw him along the back, but he did spin on his heel, slicing through all of the weak creatures save the one he had knocked away. Griping the hilt of his strange weapon tightly the blond lunged forward only to hear the voice once more. _"Wait."_ It said calmly as the blond's blade halted a mere inch from the head of the creature. _"With the power held within you, you can command these beings to do your bidding…"_ The voice said and the blond blinked then tried to think of how he could command these things…

With a flash of light it seemed his question was answered, three silver bands appearing on each arm with a single jewel held in each one, one at his wrists, the next on the middle of his forearms, and the last around his biceps, obscured by his jacket. _"These will help you control the creatures mind, they are called Spellbinders…"_ The voice came and the blond held his right arm towards the yellow eyed "Shadow" and a strange heart shaped object flew out of it and into the band on his right wrist, the jewel now glowing a bright violet.

"_Your Spellbinders are your link to magic, use them wisely…"_ The voice came once more and the blond looked at the other gems before looking down on the tiny creature before him. It looked up at him at the same time, and he ordered it to find a way for him to leave. The tiny creature moved quickly heading over to the side of the room and creating a large gate of dark energy like the ones that had appeared before. Nodding to himself, the blond haired young man walked over to the dark gate and then stopped when the voice returned yet again…

"_We are not done yet my friend… for no matter how strong you become… many will seek your downfall… so you must become a Seeker as well…"_ The voice said cryptically and the blond frowned, and then walked through the gate and back into the darkness once more…

_"But always be wary, your enemies are numerous and can appear at anytime…"_ The voice came and the blond suddenly finds himself in a familiar looking desert; however, he's seeing the scene differently as he sees himself appear; only it's him in his orange clothing? He watches as the other him shakes his head and then looked around the area, seemingly confused, as he should be. A loud almost breathing sound from the wind brings both blonds to look over to a swirling cloud of dust and sand. This miniature sand storm slowly subsides however and then they see the familiar red/gold armored warrior from before his knees to the ground… this time however… he is NOT silent…

"_**Aqua… Ven… Keyblade…"**_ Comes a raspy metallic almost breath like sounds, yet he still hears the words from the man as he kneels down. _**"Who are you? I can feel it… We've met before. But when?"**_ The armored man questions while looking towards the boy, his breathing audible even through his helmet. _**"No… it isn't you… it isn't you that I've chosen. Why isn't it him?"**_ The man then says while continuing to kneel down to the ground. _**"Xe… ha… ort… Xeha…nort… is that you? Xehanort!"**_ The strange "Enigmatic Soldier" says darkly while slowly standing up, then pulls his massive weapon from the ground and lunged forward…

The blond watches as the Soldier shoots forward, passed his other self and behind him in a burst of speed. The Soldier then turns and lunges at his other self, sending him flying into and through a mountain, to roll and skid to a halt a fair distance away… The Soldier then rushed at the other blond quickly, only for the true blond to throw his key and hop on; riding it he intercepted the Soldier and sent him flying in an explosion of dust while landing on the ground.

Looking around for a bit, the blond saw the numerous Key Shaped weapons in this area, looking almost like a graveyard of some kind. The blond ignored this however and slung his larger weapon onto his back; turning slowly he saw his other self fall into the earth and be consumed by Darkness and actually smirked… now he got to play with this freaky soldier all by himself… _"But worry not… for your power is great enough to protect you from anything…"_ The voice comes once more as the blond slowly nods his head, tightening his grip on his blades.

However, he then sees the gems on his biceps both start to glow the boy couldn't help but smirk as he reached up, and touched both of them. At that moment it seemed as if the Darkness was going to consume him once more. However this was not the case, instead the darkness coated him, forming into some kind of armor over his body as he held his arms in an X formation over his chest, smirking as the shadows wrapped over his form and created his new armored look…

His body was now changed, showing black muscle like tissue, with red forming over his hands and forearms, his fingers black, his feet were covered by dark crimson boots with black soles and silver trim at the top, his knees by crimson padding, red armor over his groin, legs covered in the strange black muscular tissue, his arms save his forearms and hands were as well, while his chest and stomach muscles were covered by red/black tissue, leaving his back and the rest of his torso covered in the black muscular tissue. Around his waist however is a red belt looped around them with a strange tattered black/red "skirt" hanging down his thighs and around the back, leaving the front open while a pair of red belts form an X between them to hold the flaps together.

At that moment, the blond looked up to the Enigmatic Soldier as he rose up, only to smirk as a silver piece formed over his lower face, curling back along his head and resembling jagged flames until a black field of some kind appeared and covered his entire face and head. All that was left of his original self was the six spellbinders on his arms, and the heart shaped armor on his shoulders. Looking to the two weapons in his hands, the new being crouched down before shooting forward.

The Soldier shook his head, then quickly blocked as the blond now consumed by Darkness brought his two blades down on his single blade. The Blond then moved quickly he used his weapons to knock the Soldier into up into the air, then jumped up and began to slash at him wildly before sending him flying back. Tossing his large weapon down and landing on it he shooting forwards. The Soldier quickly retaliated however, shifting and warping forward at amazing speed he and the Blond continued to duel one another fiercely.

The blond soon ducked and flew under a string of aerial attacks, and lunged at the Soldier, taking a firm hold of his weapon with both hands he used it to knock the Soldier up and then jumped into a spin, sending him flying back, only to skid along the ground. Crossing his arms, the blond looked at his work with a smirk, only to frown seeing the armor the Soldier had been wearing slowly stand, then glow and shatter to the ground, completely empty.

"_Yet for every enemy you defeat or destroy… more will take their place…"_ Growling low in his throat, the blond began to look around for his foe, looking in every direction he could until he finally saw them… three figures in the dust walking towards him were dressed oddly to the blond, while each was also carrying a different key like weapon…

These three were soon revealed however, the first was a boy with spiky brown hair and blue eyes, next to him on the right was a tall boy with long silver hair and green eyes, and then to his left was a girl with long crimson colored hair and blue eyes… The blond boy's eyes narrowed in hate seeing these three, and he quickly stepped off his blade then kicked it into the air, grabbing it with a single hand he placed it securely onto his back. The blond then moved forward towards the group as well, soon coming to stand directly before the brown haired boy. He looked into the brown haired boys eyes, hate clearly flowing from the Darkness consumed blond…

However at that moment, two more apparitions appeared, these two stood beside of the darkness consumed blond. On his right and glaring at the silver haired boy was one in armor like his, only blue, save the red on his hands/forearms and blue fingers, with a white "skirt" with tattered blue edges, his helmet was designed with what looked like blades coming off the sides to point backwards, the "Muscles" down his front were all blue with a large black heart in the middle with a red border of some kind.

Like the one in red, something was added to his armor, in his case he had a purple rope tied around his waist, with only two Spellbinders on his arms, one at each bicep. In his hand he had a strange sword that appeared to have an eye at the base of the blade, the blade itself was shaped like an outstretched bat wing, with a black leather handle, a spike jutting from part of the wing and a red underside to it that came down into the cross guard four small silver pieces were on both sides of the weapon while the pommel was an arrowhead shape. (Soul Eater…)

To his left and staring impassively towards the girl was another girl; dressed in a Black and Violet version of the armor the other two wore. Her fingers were black with violet on her forearms, and the muscles down her chest and stomach were a solid violet, her skirt was black with violet edges, and had a violet belt that had two violet straps coming down the edges of the tattered "Skirt" not holding the flaps together unlike the last two, violet armor forming over her groin like the others had. Her helmet was also different, having the same black field covering most of her head; the silver part had formed along her jaw and then curved back into two blades that pointed upwards, then into a second pair that curved down like hair from the back.

This one like the last two had something added over her armor, a black scarf was tied around her neck, and two pairs of Spellbinders were over her arms, one at each bicep and one at each of her wrists. In her hand the girl carried a simple weapon, it had a silver blade with a crown shaped end, a blue piece near the base of the blade, a golden cross guard that curled on both sides into the pommel, a black leather handle, and a long keychain with a strange symbol at the end of it. (Kingdom Key…)

The six people all look to the one in front of them, eyes meeting the black fields that cover the faces of the three armored warriors. _"But remember… for every ally you gain… more enemies shall surely follow…"_ The voice said while numerous shadows walked behind the three warriors before the red Seeker. Turning his own head however he saw numerous more Seeker's heading towards them as well, pulling more of the Key-Shaped weapons out of the ground as they came to stand behind the first three.

"_But do not forget…"_ The voice added as the wind began to blow against the dozens of warriors, and they all slowly turned to the side, a cloud of dust heading towards them, a shadowed figure walking ever closer to them they all tighten their grips on their weapons. _"That though they are protectors and defenders of light…"_ The voice added as the fog allowed them a better vision of the person, showing a man, dressed in a long black cloak with a zipper up the front and silver chain at the throat, the hood pulled up over his head, hands and feet clad in black gloves and boots…

_"We are the Seekers of Darkness and Truth…"_

**Chaos Bringer… The Lost Worlds… Legacy of Ansem…**

**Seekers… Repairing the worlds… Keyblade War…**

**The End is nigh… Let all worlds come together in…**

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_**Naruto Ultimate:**_

_**Birth of the Seekers…**_

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TBC…

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AU: Hope you like the preview here. Like it or not, I've had a bite of inspiration for this, obviously, it's another Dark Naruto fic, well… maybe Semi-Dark but you'll see if I ever get to actually making this into a fic. Also, in case the armors are confusing for the last three here's where they came from as it were…

Enigmatic Soldier: From KH2: Final Mix, otherwise known as Terra the brown haired knight from Birth by Sleep…

Red Seeker: Based after "Xehanort's Apprentice/Dark Soldier" from Birth by Sleep, added Shoulder guards, and the Spellbinders so he was separate from the other two.

Blue Seeker: Based after Riku's "Dark Form" from KH1, Added the rope around his waist, and the Spellbinders to separate him from the others.

Violet Seeker: My own design… go figure… loosely based after the other two combined with my own cosmetic changes to make it more feminine.


	2. Gathering Shadows

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: **_Birth of the Seekers_**…

_**Chapter 1**_: _**Gathering Shadows**_…

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"Normal Speech…"

'_Normal Thoughts_…'

"**Demon Speech**…"

'_**Demon Thoughts**_…'

[_Seeker Speech_…]

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(Konohagakure…)

A blond haired boy tosses and turns while lying upon a massive monument built into the side of a cliff. Grunting and sweating the boy suddenly sat up and looked around. He found himself laying down on top of the Hokage monument and let out a quiet sigh… "Just a dream…" He muttered before lying back with his arms crossed behind his head and looking up at the clouds as they covered the sky above him. This boy is one Uzumaki Naruto, a Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, or "The Village Hidden in the Leaves". The boy is a Genin, the lowest rank of Shinobi, due mostly to the fact he has been gone for two years, and is the sole Uzumaki in all of Konoha.

The boy is of average height, with lightly tanned skin and three thin whisker scars running down each cheek, a pair of bright blue eyes lay half lidded as he watches the clouds, his sun-kissed blond hair spikes in numerous directions, even down into his face. At the moment he is wearing a pair of baggy orange pants that cut off half way down his calves and some wrappings around his right thigh, a pair of black sandal boots with straps over them, a bulky orange jacket with a black T shape up the middle of the front with black arms and a strange silver spiral clipped onto his right bicep.

Beside of him however, lies a Kunai case over a weapons pouch, both lay in the shadows of his black backpack, his Hittai-ate resting over them and in the shadow of his back as well. The blond gives a faint smile as he watches the sky, soon reaching out with a hand as though to grab it, he merely holds his hand up towards the sky and then smiles. "Sometimes… you have to stop and appreciate the small things in life before looking for more…" The blond whispers to himself as he lays back, his right arm retuned under his head as the sun warms his skin…

"Naruto-Baka, wake up already!" With that voice Naruto quickly sits up and looks up to see a smirking Haruno Sakura, his only female teammate on squad Seven…

Sakura is a "Rosette" having bubblegum-pink hair that falls half way down her neck, a red Hittai-ate looped around her head to hold it back, pale skin with a lightly toned body and bright emerald green eyes. She wears a red sleeveless zip-up shirt with white trimming, a pair of skintight black shorts under a gray skirt of some kind that has belts looped into the sides to hold the front and back flaps together, gray elbow pads, wrappings over her own right thigh, and a pair of black high-heeled Sandal Boots with black leather greaves over her shins.

"Why'd you do that Sakura-Chan? I wasn't even sleeping…" Naruto grumbled and the girl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Because idiot, you can't just lay around and sunbathe all day… we have work to do in case you've forgotten…" The girl told him simply and Naruto rolled his eyes then stretched out with a yawn, wishing for the days of his youth when he could slack off all he wanted to…

"Yeah yeah… wait… what do "I" have to do today?" Naruto said then questioned with a confused expression and Sakura had the decency to blush… in all actuality it was just habit that she even went to get him…

"Uhh… well you never know… Tsunade-Sama might have something for you to do today…" Sakura offered, hoping that he'd actually buy that load of BS so she wouldn't have to deal with it any further…

"Ne, you're probably right Sakura-Chan… Besides I don't want to turn into a lazy sloth like Shikamaru." Naruto said then commented, allowing Sakura to breath a quick sigh of relief as the blond gathered his stuff, putting his Hittai-ate back on and slinging his back pack over one shoulder.

"Why do you have a backpack with you? Expecting some big mission or something Naruto?" The Rosette questioned of the blond who chuckled and rubbed the back of his head slowly.

"Nah, I had something to do today that required some of my equipment." Naruto told the girl then before she could ask what that was he bounded off down the side of the monument, pissing the girl off as she ran after him angrily. The blond eventually managed to escape the furious Rosette; somehow also managing to make it to the Hokage Tower he walked in to see his "Favorite old lady". "Yo, Baachan!" He said then moved to the side to avoid a bottle of Sake, which in turn hit an AnBu behind the blond.

"What do you want brat?" The blond woman then questioned while rubbing her temples and Naruto moved his arms behind his head.

"I was wondering if you had anything for me to do today?" Naruto explained and Tsunade looked at him with one eye then grumbled under her breath.

"I started something new while your team was gone brat… Missions for lower ranking Nin are on a board downstairs… grab the sheet from the form, finish the mission, then bring it to me to get your pay… saves me one hell of a lot of paper work…" The woman said then muttered under her breath, Naruto heard the muttered part but ignored it as he walked out of the room. He then went right passed the board, not really interested in doing any D-Rank Missions at the moment. Instead he walked back out into the streets of Konoha, he then walked back to his home to drop off his Backpack, then stretched a bit and looked around his shabby apartment.

The place was no different than when he was little, but it DID seem almost smaller, or perhaps that was because he was taller… Either way, he'd found less room for his stuff and cleaned the place up recently. However, looking to a clock hanging on his wall, Naruto walked out of the apartment building, his arms folded behind his head as he walked down the streets wondering around the vast city aimlessly…

"What to do… what to do…" The blond said to himself, he still didn't want to do any D-rank missions… at least not today, so missions were out… He could always head over to Ichiraku but even HE knew his eating habits weren't healthy, he'd picked up some better ones while on his training trip after all… Then again, he did still love Ramen. Nah, if he got back into his fifteen bowls of Ramen a week habit, the "Ero-Sennin" would tear him a new one for sure… Visiting some of the other Rookies was a viable idea… but they were probably all training or on missions…

"Ugh… Mendokuse…" Naruto grumbled, stealing one of his good friends favorite words, as it seemed to apply to this particular situation perfectly. Looking around, Naruto frowned and decided on what to do while he walked back towards the Hokage monument. As he climbed the monument for what felt like the millionth time in his life Naruto stopped at the top and walked over to the Fourth's head to look out over Konoha for a short while…

After admiring the view for a few moments, Naruto began looking around for anybody and soon couldn't help smirking as he walked over to a bush. The blond then jumped over it to land at the entrance to a cave. Many would wonder why Naruto would come to a cold dark cave at the top of a mountain in order to relieve his boredom when most caves were very boring themselves. His simple answer was that he liked this particular cave; he had used the cave to hide from angry villagers for years, hell, for a while after the Orphanage kicked him out he LIVED in this cave, and he even used to draw his own bedtime stories onto the caves walls so he could always remember them or see the great battles his imagination somehow cooked up when he was a child…

"Heh, good times…" Naruto mumbled to himself with a smile before placing a hand on the side of the cave. Then the blond entered it sideways, the entrance to narrow for a full-grown human to easily get through, though not for a young Naruto. Once in, Naruto took even steps down the long stretch that the cave seemed to take, ignoring the breath like sounds of the wind passing through the cave, as well as passing cobwebs that had gathered and avoiding the sharp rocks on the ground. "I've got to remember to clear this place out when I get the chance…" He mumbled to himself when he saw a light and found the path of the cave expanding, allowing him to move normally at last.

Walking deeper into the cave, Naruto came to the only part of it that had any real light, due to a large hole in the ceiling. "Man… I've really grown since I was last down here…" Naruto mused while placing a hand on the ceiling, a hint of pride in his tone while looking around. The blond soon walked around the small cavern like room, looking at all the crudely drawn pictures he had made over the years. Some had him in Kage like robes, others had warriors fighting monsters, and if he wasn't mistaken, one or two of them were of toads… "Heh, I've probably been obsessed with Toads for a long time…" He mused to himself then looked at the one wall without anything drawn on it.

Over this wall was a strange door, Naruto had tried tens of dozens of times to open it… yet the damn thing never even budged and didn't have any kind of handle on it. "Wonder what's behind there…" Naruto wondered to himself thoughtfully then had a sudden chill run down his spine for some reason. Ignoring that, Naruto walked over to the strange door and placed a hand onto it. He wondered to himself, if possibly an old shelter lay hidden behind the brown and black steel/wood door… or maybe it could be a weapon cache, or perhaps simply a tool shed from when they were first constructing the Hokage monument all those years ago…

Smiling, the blond haired teen turned and leaned back against the sturdy door, a contented look on his face. He then looked around at the numerous pictures and drawings all over the walls and even somehow on the ceilings and slowly slid down into a sitting position… "I always loved adventure… I wanted to explore and see other worlds when I was little…" Naruto said with a soft smile, only for it to slowly fall as he sighed. "But… everyone says there's no way to get to other worlds… or that they don't exist…" He said to himself then shook his head and looked to a drawing that showed a crudely drawn Naruto with a sword of some kind in hand…

"I don't care, I'll become Hokage, and I'll become strong enough to visit all of the other worlds that lay out there… I won't ever give up… and if there's no way to get to other worlds…" Naruto then looked up out of the roof of the cave to the sky and the clouds as they hovered above. "Then I'll just have to MAKE a way!" He said firmly with a smirk, and then saw a cloud formation that looked like a boat. Raising a single hand up, as though to reach for it, the blond smiled softly as the boat like cloud formation slowly faded, leaving nothing behind it…

Dropping his hand at that and leaning his head back once more, Naruto gave a light laugh before closing his eyes… his dreams while in the cave were just like that as when he was still a child, filled with adventure and magic in other worlds on a great and epic adventure…

--

(??)

Sasuke Uchiha was a boy of, in his own mind, simple needs. Power. That was all he needed or wanted, if he didn't get it fast enough or what he did get was insufficient, well… he tended to get angry… However, he'd noticed this fault during his training with Orochimaru and somehow literally beat patience into himself. As such, the boy was much more calm now, capable of waiting for the right moment to strike instead of rushing in blindly. This in turn led him to develop strategies that didn't involve rushing in headfirst. _'Honestly, even the Dobe knew better than that…'_ Sasuke thought bitterly, frowning at his former lack of thought or tact.

However, recently he had an almost frightening feeling something was going on. Looking to the star filled sky above him he narrowed his eyes seeing one of those stars slowly wink out of existence… "Something's coming…" The dark haired teen whispered then groaned as he felt a female body suddenly collide with his back and twitched. "Release me Karin…" He growled out, wondering why the fuck she had to be useful, he'd MUCH rather just off her fucking ass than touch or be near her at this point…

"Aww but Sasuke-kun, I'm tired." Karin mocked, obviously playing and Sasuke still didn't like it.

"Juugo…" He started to say and Karin jumped off the boy faster than he could continue. Smirking slightly, Sasuke wondered if having a bouncer like Juugo around in Konoha would help get rid of the fangirls… nah… probably makes the really tough ones get even tougher… Sasuke grunted at that thought and then walked on, passed Suigetsu then walked on into a field, only to stop and turn towards the sky once more.

"Sasuke-kun… are you alright?" Karin questioned of the dark haired teen and Sasuke narrowed his eyes onto the sky, seeing an ominous sign as he did… a star went out… simply blinked out of existence, yet it had been one of the brighter stars in the sky, why had it gone out? Frowning at the suddenly bad feeling he was getting, Sasuke pulled his Akatsuki cloak closer to himself, and then walked off without answering Karin, though he did speak one thing that made them ALL start to worry…

"Something's coming… something… dark…"

--

(Secret Place…)

Naruto's eyes twitched at the strange sounds of breathing from the cave getting more realistic. Then his eyes slowly fluttered open and he sat up and stretched his arms out, yawning tiredly and looking to the sky to see the stars were out. "Whoa… I really got to sleep here more often…" He said lowly, mostly because he could never really get to sleep right in his own bed, often leading him to be late for his Team assignments. Getting up off the floor, the blond rolled his neck a little, feeling it pop and twist, loosening the stiff muscles from sleeping like he had been… _'Eh, no pain, no gain…'_ He thought with a shrug while walking over to the door of the cave only to stop suddenly as another chill went down his spine…

"Someone else who wishes to see the door to this world? No… I think not…" A questioning crisp voice came from behind him, and then amended it's own words. Upon hearing this scarily familiar voice Naruto turned around to face him, coming to see a man in a black cloak with a hood, his face completely consumed in shadows, a silver chain at his throat with two silver pull strings beside the chain, and a pair of black gloves and boots. However, the man's posture was horrible, slouching forward with bent knees and his arms folded behind his back with broad hunched down shoulders, making the man stand only to the height of Naruto himself…

"Who… who are you?" Naruto questioned slowly with narrowed eyes and the man looked at him for but a second then shook his head slowly from side to side. With that done and ignoring the blond completely, the strange hooded man turned his head and started looking to the door once more.

"It seems this world has also been connected…" He muttered to himself and Naruto frowned, quickly getting angry with the man as he continued to ignore him so blatantly. "Tied to the darkness… soon to be completely eclipsed… like so many other worlds before it…" He whispered softly while shaking his head once more and Naruto lunged forward, grabbing the man by his cloak and slamming him into the wall.

"Okay listen buddy, I don't know WHO you are and right now, I don't really CARE… but what the fuck are you talking about? Other worlds? Tied to Darkness? What the hell is going on?!" Naruto demanded and the man merely looked down at him, passed the endless shadows of his hood…

"You… you have a strong heart and an even stronger will…" He said simply and Naruto raised a brow towards him with obvious confusion, the man slowly shaking his head at the action. "Yet you understand so little of the world… just like him…" The man said and Naruto growled angrily, he wasn't going to let someone that didn't even KNOW him call him stupid Dammit!

"Shut the hell up!" With that Naruto threw the man towards the "Door" only for the man to flip in midair and kick off the door into a spin before landing on the ground gracefully as if he hadn't just been tossed around like a rag doll…

"Impressive strength young one… it will aide you greatly in the times to come…" The man said with a nod while now looking fully towards Naruto, the boy growling as this guy just seemed to rub him the wrong way… "I must say goodbye now… Until we meet again, young one…" With that said a strange field of black energy opened behind the man before he took a few steps back and vanished completely, leaving Naruto alone and confused. As soon as he was gone however, Naruto took another look around then shivered and walked out of the cave, leaving both it, and the so called door, to whatever was going to happen next…

If he had stayed even a few more seconds, Naruto would have seen a small, Ant like creature crawl from the place the man had vanished. It then crawled to the door, twitching as it looked up at it and a black cloud of energy formed at the center of the door… unveiling a Keyhole of some kind, which the Ant-like creature then entered by crawling up the door…

--

(Disney Castle…)

Donald Duck walked down a long stretching hall with a red carpet laid out on the floor. Dressed in his blue robes/hat the Duck that walked and acted like a human soon came to a ridiculously large door, then pulled open a smaller door that was part of it. As he entered into another hallway he quietly began humming to himself, eyes closed while thinking of the past. He was the Magician of King Mickey Mouse's court and one of his two best and oldest friends. The other friend was Goofy G. Goof, captain of the royal guard and total "Goof Up"; honestly, in Donald's personal opinion the dog/man/thing was more trouble than he was worth.

However, he was forced to concede that no one was more loyal or reliable in a tight situation than Goofy, even compared to himself Goofy was still the best of the best friends. Shaking his head Donald got back onto his train of thought and got back to what he had been thinking of… Oh yes, the past… Donald and Goofy were King Mickey's most trusted friends and Advisers, superseded only by Queen Minnie Mouse herself. The trio have done many things over the years, the least of which was creating the "Disney Kingdom"…

Donald and Goofy had helped the Keyblade Master Sora in his quest not even a year ago. Together the three traveled worlds and saved so many lives from the threat of the heartless. However, nowadays Sora traveled with Riku and Kairi, leaving Donald and Goofy to fight with King Mickey like the old days. However, King Mickey had decided to return home to rest for a while, two + years of non-stop combat wears on even the strongest of hearts after all.

And so, here they were, Disney Castle, he had already gone to see his nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, and uncle, Scrooge MacDuck, caught up with his girlfriend, Daisy Duck (No Relation), and visited his few friends outside of Goofy and Mickey, or simply put Chip and Dale Chipmunk and Drake Mallard. Also, from what Donald knew, Mickey was now spending some quality time with Minnie again, and Goofy was probably spending some time with his Son Maximillian (Max) Goof.

Shaking his head as he came to a door with two guards beside it Donald inwardly prepared to reign in his Temper… "Let me in." Donald squawked in his normal quack like voice and both guards looked to one another…

"What he Say?" They asked one another and Donald slapped his face, feeling his blood boil he glared at the two guards angrily.

"I SAID LET ME IN YA BIG STUPID PALOOKA'S!!" Donald shouted and yet again the guards looked to one another dumbly.

"What he Say?" They asked one another once more and Donald squawked angrily before lunging at one of the guards angrily…

Meanwhile, down the hall a certain humanoid-mouse with perfectly round ears from any direction had just heard the sounds of Donald cursing and yelling at the guards and chuckled. "That Donald… he'll never change…" Mickey said to himself then looked back out the window worriedly as he saw another star flicker. "Even after all we've done… the Heartless are still a threat to all worlds…" he said softly then walked over to one of his chairs, then sat down and looked to his Dog Pluto. The yellow dog looked up at him in response, opening only one eye and Mickey pet him once.

"It looks like things are going to get hectic again boy… can you look after Minnie for me for a while?" Mickey questioned and the dog nodded his head before yawning and snuggling down into his bed. Mickey smiled at this, only to lean back in his seat, looking down at his Keyblade "Darkside" and frown. "Even though your stronger than the other Keyblades, your not as useful… I almost wish Master Xehanort was still around… he could at least help me control your power…" Mickey said to himself then shuddered, his tail wrapping around his waist.

"No… Xehanort fell into Darkness a long time ago… and no one, not even HE could have found a way out of that place…" Mickey said to himself while yawning, then got up and went back to the window, looking down at a set of records chronicling the exploits of Sora, Donald, and Goofy, as well as his and Riku's own exploits over the years. Looking them over, he frowned noting a sort of pattern, it seemed as if all their troubles stemmed from Xehanort in the end…

"Hmm… I wonder why he only remembered Master Xehanort's name…?" Mickey questioned then had a couple thoughts as he then looked at the reports more closely, also checking several of the Ansem reports he'd gathered from Sora. Looking them over, he noticed something, a strange fascination for Darkness and power that Mickey recognized quite well… "Nah, he couldn't have survived…" Mickey said to himself then looked to the sky, only to frown seeing a star begin to dim…

'_Is that the Heartless? Why are they active again? Hmm… maybe I should stop trying to find a way to stop the Heartless in the present… maybe I should look back into the past for a way to stop them…'_ Mickey thought to himself with a frown on his face…

--

TBC…

--

AN: Got bored and decided I might as well update this story, any ideas for it would be appreciated, though I am, as always, doing extensive research into Kingdom Hearts, I've played 1 2 and COM thus far but I'm looking up less obvious information on a Kingdom Hearts Wiki. Er, anyways, hope you liked the Chapter, why Naruto's "Secret Place" was so similar to Sora's will be explained later on... it's going to be a surprise for everyone I'm sure...


	3. Seeker

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

**_Chapter 2_**: _**Seeker**_…

--

"Normal Speech…"

'_Normal Thoughts_…'

"**Demon Speech**…"

'**_Demon Thoughts_**…'

_[Seeker Speech…]_

--

(Disney Castle…)

"So what do ya'll think it means King Mickey?" Goofy G. Goof questioned while looking to Mickey with a confused expression. Goofy is a large Dog like man, with black fur, two large teeth hanging out of his mouth, and a pair of long floppy ears. He wears a tiny helmet on his head like a hat, an orange/black jumpsuit with a steel pauldron, gauntlet, and armband covering his left arm, a steel arm band on his right bicep with a white glove, a pair of orange shoes, and a metal belt around his waist with a single hip-guard at his right side. Also in hand is his shield, known only as "Save the King" which he had acquired with help from his friend Sora.

"I'm not sure Goofy, but the Heartless have become extremely active again… I think it's for the best if we go and see if we can find out why that is before we try making any assumptions." Mickey muses aloud and Goofy looked lost while Donald frowned and looked at the picture of the "Enigmatic Apprentice"…

"So do you think it could have something to do with Xehanort or something, King Mickey?" Donald questioned and Mickey frowned, he never thought of that possibility…

"No… He was destroyed… I hope… In any case we have to go and look for clues to what is going on with the Heartless. And the best place to start would be Radiant Garden." Mickey stated while throwing his king's robes off to reveal his clothes underneath. First was a pair of red pants with zippers down each leg, with a pair of yellow pouches at the front of each and blue straps up the side of each leg. A pair of large yellow shoes with orange straps in an X shape on the front, a pair of simple white gloves, and last was a coat with a zipper up the front left mostly undone, short black sleeves, white trim and collar, a pair of yellow straps over each shoulder and red along the bottom bellow the sleeves and above the white trim.

"Um… Your Majesty… why do we have to go looken for where the Heartless came from? We know how they were made already." Goofy questioned of the king while scratching his head and Mickey rolled his eyes towards his Captain of the Royal Guard.

"Because Goofy, what we don't know is how Xehanort made the original Heartless, I want to find out and make sure that no one else ever uses his methods ever again. Besides, if we find out how they were originally made, we might find a way to destroy the Heartless once and for all." Mickey explained and Goofy still looked confused, Mickey then looked over to Donald, who got the jest of what he said but didn't fully understand what he meant.

"But your majesty, it could take months if not years to understand Xehanort's reports!" Donald exclaimed and Goofy just watched on, inwardly preparing to have to say goodbye to his son Max for only heaven knew how long… again…

"That's true Donald, however there is something I need to see in Radiant Garden… Xehanort mentions a Room of Sleep in his report and I have to know what was inside it… Whatever it was, it obviously has something to do with Xehanort's past and loath as I am to admit it, to understand the Heartless, we need to understand Xehanort…" Mickey said and Donald groaned, knowing he'd have to say goodbye to Daisy soon… or she'd probably scald him for "not telling her" or something.

"But King Mickey, if we're off looken for them there clues, whose gonna protect the castle?" Goofy questioned of his best friend and king; after all, he was the captain of the palace guard…

"You can have the other Knights watch the place Goofy, Max, Huey, Dewey, and Louie will be fine… you could even get Launchpad and his friend Drake to help if you wanted, their all member's of the Palace guard after all." Mickey offered and Goofy blinked then rubbed the back of his neck with a goofy grin, he'd actually forgot about Drake and Launchpad seeing as they were freelance, Drake's daughter Gosalyn was also a member so maybe he could have them all help the boys out…

"B-but your majesty! There all really young! Do you really think they can handle that kind of a responsibility!?" Donald said then demanded while mostly meaning his three nephews while Drake, Launchpad, and Max were certainly old enough to be in danger of Heartless and fight them…

"There just two years younger than Sora Donald, honestly the boys can handle themselves better than most kid's their age. Besides, they already made a Gummy Ship and travel from world to world on a regular basis…" Mickey said then added and Donald growled angrily, he was still a little annoyed at his Nephews doing that when he told them they had to stay at home… and then his own uncle Scrooge followed them in some sort of get rich(er) quick scheme no less!

"Yeah, besides they'd have Maxi and the other's to look out for 'em Donald." Goofy offered and the small magical duck grumbled, but conceded to their point, though had this feeling Daisy was going to rip him a new one later for this…

"Right then, Goofy you go and tell the others. Get changed on your way to the Gummy Ship. Donald you go tell the boys and leave anything they might need. Change on your way to the Gummy Ship also. I'll go have Chip and Dale talk to Gadget about having the ship's armor and weapons upgraded for the trip." Mickey ordered then walked off and both Goofy and Donald looked to one another then raced off to do as told…

--

(Konoha…)

Naruto sat on the roof of his apartment, looking out over the city of Konoha with a passive stare. The blond is still dressed in his orange and black Jumpsuit, however his Kunai case and Equipment Pouch were all left inside with his Hittai-ate, leaving him with his spiky blond locks hanging free. _'It seems this world has also been connected…'_ The voice of that man from yesterday rung out in Naruto's mind while the blond looked over the land. _'Tied to the Darkness… soon to be completely eclipsed…like so many other worlds before it…'_ The man had then said and Naruto couldn't help but frown in thought.

'_Does that mean there IS other worlds out there?'_ The blond wondered to himself before looking up to the sky Naruto held up a hand towards it, shadowing his face slowly as he saw a small hole open up in the sky… "The door… the door has opened…" He mumbles softly while looking up to the sky, eyes dimming slightly as he did so… Standing up, the blond looked to the sky with dim eyes, the night sky seeming to open as he does so. "The Darkness has come…" He whispers while looking upwards, pillars of dark energy suddenly slamming down into the ground around the village, people screaming in fright and alarms blaring all over the village.

As he looks on, the blond suddenly twitches, closing his eyes as a familiar presence appears behind him. Opening his eyes he turns, both eyes now a bright amber color as apposed to their crystal hue. "It has begun." The cloaked man comments darkly while walking to stand behind the blond. "One touched by The Darkness as his "Other" is by The Light…" The cloaked man from before comments, Naruto blinking and shaking his head to rid himself of the strange thoughts running through his head… his eyes returning to their original blue hue as he does.

"I've… been having weird thoughts lately…" Naruto mumbles while holding his head and the man tilts his head to one side.

"Really? What?" The man questions softly and Naruto sighs.

"Like… is any of this for real… or not?" Naruto admits while looking to the ground and the man merely nods his head.

"A valid question. Is this reality true, or is it false? Can anyone shed some light on this rather grim question or is it one that shall eternally be left unanswered?" The man asks and then chuckles slightly before holding his hand to one side, black energy coming together in his hand before forming a familiar looking weapon in his hand and making Naruto take a step back.

This weapon was actually a massive key, which was scarily familiar to the blond haired youth… The pure black handle was approximately half a foot long, with a black and black Gear shape with red edging moving from the oval shaped pommel to the ribbed half circular hand guard, the guard looks like a pair of ribbed metallic gray plates curling into the red gear shape, at the center of it above the hand is an evil blue eye, while a single grey part reaches up from the eye, all in all this makes the hilt of the weapon a little over a foot long and approximately a foot wide.

The next part of the blade appeared to be a little over two feet long, silver colored with black parts also covering outside of the silver part while a hole is centered on it, then extends upwards, more black parts curving over it where it then forms an 8 near the very tip of the blade, while within the 8 was another blue cats eye. The end of the blade had another black and red head shaped like a gear with long teeth on one side to resemble a key's teeth, a smaller gear shape was under this attached to the end of the blade with shorter teeth at the opposite side of the first gears teeth, attached to the base of the gears were numerous black parts that kept both of them attached to it… (Dark Soldier Key…)

"Take it." The old man suddenly says, making Naruto look at him strangely. "You'll need it for the journey ahead… a warrior needs a weapon to cut through his enemies. And a new weapon will present itself to you soon enough…" The old man says darkly, Naruto slowly walking forward before reaching out to take the Key-Shaped weapon from the man.

"What's happening to the village?" Naruto then asks while motioning to the many pools of dark energy, the man chuckling once more in response.

"Something amazing…" The man offers while looking up into the sky and causing Naruto to grit his teeth into a snarl.

"I didn't ask you for this cryptic bullshit old man! What the hell is going on here?!" Naruto demands and the old cloaked man looks at him for a moment before looking upwards as trees and buildings are uprooted and pulled forcibly into the void of darkness above them.

"The Darkness… it consumes all things…" The man says crisply, Naruto growling while taking hold of the Dark-Soldier-Key with both hands.

"I said no more of this cryptic bullshit!" Naruto growled out at the man and he chuckles once more.

"Such a violent fellow you are." The old man notes and Naruto lunges forward, the old man merely side stepping him before moving quickly to sweep his legs out from under him a second later. "Calm down. You will soon understand…" The old man says cryptically once more and Naruto flips back to his feet and glares at the man heatedly.

"Understand what?! That my village is being destroyed?" Naruto demands and the old man tilt his head before shaking his head slowly.

"No… not destroyed… returned, returned to Kingdom Hearts as all things eventually must be." The man says while looking around himself and makes Naruto pause for a moment.

"What is that supposed to mean? What's Kingdom Hearts?" Naruto demands angrily and the old man sighs slowly before then crossing his arms behind his back.

"You will learn… but first, you must understand, understand what you are… what we all are…" The old man says while looking up, only serving to infuriate and confuse the blond even further. "Where you are going, you will make new friends, new allies, new enemies, and you will learn the truth behind all worlds, behind what The Darkness and The Light truly are… and why they are at war with one another…" The old man then says and Naruto gives him a positively baffled expression.

"Wait… all worlds? Where I'm going… What do you mean by any this? Tell me what's going on!!" Naruto demands and the old man chuckles lightly.

"Isn't it obvious Naruto? You've always wanted to go to other worlds… right?" The old man asks, making Naruto take a step back, wondering how he knew his name or what he'd always wanted to do… "Of course you have… you're his "Other" after all." The man muses and Naruto shakes his head before grasping the hilt of his Keyblade with both hands.

"Who? And I can't go anywhere, Konoha still needs me encase you haven't noticed old man!" Naruto states and the old man chuckles darkly before rising up into the air, Naruto's eyes bolting open as he does.

"You are so similar to him… yet also so different… But now, I believe a test is in order. To see if you can truly do what is needed of you… can you sacrifice something you love to learn a greater truth?" The old man then wonders before vanishing into a field of black and violet energy, Naruto cursing as he rushes to stop him, reaching him too late.

"Great. Now what?" Naruto wonders then hears the screams from below and quickly jumps to the ground, looking around he spots strange familiar black creatures rising up. The creatures were all a solid midnight black in color with bent and curling feelers on their heads, sharp-clawed hands and toeless feet with bright yellow eyes. (Pureblood Heartless: Shadow) "Those are… Heartless…" He notes with wide eyes before quickly shaking his head and rushing forward. "I need to figure out where these things are coming from…" Naruto says mostly to himself, noting that several Ninja are trying to fight the Heartless… and failing, as nothing seems to hurt them but Jutsu.

"There's too many!" One calls out as several Shadows jump on top of him, his screams echoing out into the night. Gritting his teeth Naruto shoves passed several people, then jumps onto a rooftop. Breathing out a sigh he then rushes forward, heading towards the Hokage Tower so he could see where the nearly endless stream of Heartless was coming from. Running along the rooftops Naruto then spots one of his friends and inwardly grins.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto calls out while lunging forward, slicing his Dark-Soldier Key through a Heartless and standing in front of Kakashi.

"Naruto! What the hell is going on around here? And where the hell did you get a weapon that actually kills these things?" Kakashi demands in shock while looking around with wide eyes and Naruto bites his lip.

"That's kind of hard to explain and even I barely believe it…" Naruto offers and Kakashi decides not to dwell on it as even bigger Heartless start to pop up. These are larger than a shadow, but still smaller than a man with long spindly arms with sharp talons at the ends, a pair of large glowing amber eyes on it's faceless head with two long tentacle like antenna on its head both of which like the rest of their bodies were covered in blue veins. (Pureblood Heartless: Neo-Shadow…)

"Uh oh… bigger ones…" Kakashi mumbles seeing as a third if not all of his Jutsu were nearly useless against these things. Mainly this was because of how fast they were, and because of their ability to seemingly become part of the ground around them… thus limiting where he could attack and how as even with his speed with Hand seals they were too fast for a Chidori to actually hit!

"Neo-Shadows…" Naruto says in a whisper, his eyes going glassy as he stands perfectly still.

"Naruto, what's wrong!?" Kakashi demands while shaking the blond, making him shake his head then take a step back.

"We need to move Sensei, these are Neo-Shadow's, bigger and more dangerous than the little ones." Naruto says and Kakashi looks at him strangely.

"How do you know that?" He questions and Naruto shrugs.

"I don't know how, I just DO." He replies then pushes Kakashi out of the way as one of the Neo's comes at the silver haired Jounin. "Kakashi Sensei, head for the Hokage Tower, Baachan has a strong heart, and these things EAT strong hearts to make more of themselves! The stronger the heart, the stronger the Heartless it makes, so I DON'T want to know what Baachan's heart would create…" Naruto warns before putting a hand onto his head and groaning.

"Wait! You mean for every ninja they take down, more of them pop up?!" Kakashi demands with wide eyes and Naruto manages a shaky nod then falls to his knees. "Naruto!" He says only to step back as a Neo nearly slices through him from the side.

"I said go Kakashi Sensei, I'll be fine… I've got this to protect me remember!" Naruto reminds while holding his Dark-Soldier Key and Kakashi looks around before slowly nodding his head and rushing off towards the Hokage Tower. As he does, Naruto grunts lowly while standing up and looking around himself, the Neo's are followed by several Shadows and another new type of Heartless.

This one was large and round with yellow eyes, unlike the others it had a mouth that looked like a maw of nothing but sharp fangs, it's body was a mishmash of blue and black color, with three threaded bits coming off of its body, two like antenna on its "Head" which both resembled numerous strings wrapped together poorly, and one where it's "Neck" would be, all three ending in an off lavender color. (Pureblood Heartless: Dark Ball)

"Dark-Ball's… they are able to teleport and use wild attacks to their advantage… but are also severely weakened when hit from behind…" Naruto mumbled in a daze, his eyes once more clouded and dimmed before he then reached up a hand to his head. Shaking his head he looked around and grimaced seeing that the Shadows, Dark-Ball's, and Neo-Shadows had him more or less surrounded two-dozen to one.

"Great… now I'm surrounded…" Naruto mumbled and closed his eyes, awaiting an attack of some form… but none came. Opening his eyes he saw them all just floating or scurrying around him. Then a shadowy pool opened up beneath him as darkness came up and wrapped around his arms. Gasping and standing in shock he was surprised to see six familiar silver bangles on his arms, one over each of his wrist, the next pair over the middle of his forearms, and the last pair around his biceps.

"These are…" He whispers before placing a hand to his head and stumbling…

"_**They are your spellbinders, they are your power and my legacy."**_ A deep yet strangely sinister voice echoes in his mind, Naruto noting one of the Neo-Shadow's was closer to him took a step back. Looking at his right wrist, Naruto saw a familiar glowing purple gem in it and looked around.

"That dream… was it real?" Naruto had to wonder before shaking his head. "Out of my way!" Naruto ordered the Heartless, his bangle glowing brightly as they moved to clear a path for him. "Good Heartless." Naruto says with a nod before quickly rushing away from the Heartless, making his way towards the Hokage Tower. _'Maybe if I can get to the tower Baachan can help me figure out what's going on… and maybe we can use my power to save Konoha!'_ Naruto thinks to himself while rushing towards the Tower, slinging his Dark-Soldier key onto his back.

Suddenly stopping however, the blond youth remembered something from his dream and pulled the Key from his back. _'I wonder…'_ He inwardly mumbled before tossing the Key down, surprised when it began to float in the air. "Okay… that works." Naruto muses while hopping onto the Key and then pushing forward, using the key to quickly head for the Tower while evading the now falling apart buildings. Evading another part of a falling building, Naruto ducks forward into a roll and gapes as another Heartless suddenly rises up…

This creature was possibly fifteen, if not more, feet tall with pure black skin, it's bright yellow eyes had three scratches going down its face like those of the Sandaime Hokage, it's wild tendril like hair was splayed around it's head and shoulders while also being curled over its lower face like a scarf, its body was completely composed of a powerful muscular build with long large arms and short legs with its strange jagged point toes, a heart was cut out of it's torso however and two small, useless looking wings arched from its shoulders. (Pureblood Heartless: Dark-Side…)

"Dark-Side… the strongest of all Heartless, born from the most powerful hearts… their appearance marks the end of the world they come too…" Naruto says in another daze while looking up at the massive creature with glassed over eyes.

"Oh shit…" Naruto murmurs with wide eyes while taking a step back from the gargantuan creature. Looking down at him with its nearly glowing yellow eyes the massive beast quickly reared a fist back before then slamming it forward. Turning quickly Naruto saw it open another pool of Darkness, several Shadows slithering out and attacking two ROOT Ninja who had been behind him. "What the… who were they?" Naruto wondered, while then turning back to the Dark Side.

"You… protected me?" Naruto questioned and rather than an answer, Naruto was lifted off his feet by the Dark-Side, then placed onto one of it's mammoth shoulders. Looking down, Naruto sees a pair of Kunai where he had been and the Dark-Side swipes at two more of the strange AnBu looking men, knocking them into the many Heartless in Konoha. "I'll take that as a yes big guy. But I kind of need to get to the Tower over there!" Naruto says while motioning towards the Hokage Tower, the Dark-Side crouching down as he does then launching itself into the air, landing on a building.

As they do, a fireball Jutsu hits the Dark-Side, causing it to stumble back and Naruto to jump off of it and to the ground in a crouch. "Sorry big guy… but I don't have time to play piggy back." Naruto says before quickly running forward, only to curse as another fireball heads for HIM this time.

"Uzumaki Naruto, by order of Danzo-Sama you are ordered to cease this attack on Konoha at once." Another of the strange ROOT AnBu says while Naruto gapes towards him in response.

"You think that 'I' did all this?!" He demands seriously and one of the ROOT's come forward.

"We have been watching you for some time. You have knowledge of the Enemy that no one else does. You are not attacked by any of them. One even protected you. Thereby you must be the one controlling these beasts. Cease your attacks at once and turn yourself over to the Council unless you wish for us to use Lethal force." The ROOT drones out monotonously and Naruto grits his teeth. _'Well… when you look at it that way it DOES seem like I control them… but I'm not the one telling them to do all of this!'_ Naruto thinks to himself and then watches as something suddenly strikes the Ninja from behind him.

Turning around, Naruto sees the Dark-Side from before, a glowing sphere now present in the heart shaped hole in its chest. "Whoa… thanks…" Naruto guessed before making his way towards the Hokage Tower once more, throwing his Dark-Soldier Key forward and hopping onto it as he did. _'I really got to get to Baachan, if I don't the council in all its wisdom is going to be trying to kill me soon enough!'_ Naruto thinks to himself while quickly evading a few more ROOT AnBu, random Heartless jumping at them from seemingly out of nowhere to keep them down.

'_Why are they protecting me?'_ Naruto had to wonder before shaking his head, deciding it was better not to care as he then came to a stop in front of the Hokage Tower. "Got to hurry…" Naruto mumbles to himself before rushing forward, passed the doors and upwards into the Tower. As he does, he soon comes to a stop as the ground around him begins to churn and shake. "What the? Earthquakes now? Great…" Naruto mumbles to himself before hurrying up the stairs quickly, turning and then stopping before the Hokage's Office.

"Baachan! We've got a major problem!" Naruto says while running into the room only for an arm to reach out and pull him into the room and onto the floor. Upon turning Naruto sees an old man with one eye and one arm, reaching to the side to take hold of a cane. "Who are you?" Naruto demands while seeing a panting Kakashi sitting in a chair, obviously exausted and the man frown towards him.

"My name is Danzo. And YOU need to call these beasts off!" Danzo orders and Naruto twitches violently before glaring at the man.

"Listen here pal, if I could control millions of these things all at once I would, but sadly I can't!" Naruto replies and Danzo sneers towards him.

"Then you admit you CAN control these things." He states and Naruto gives him a look in response, Kakashi turning and grimacing as he does. _'Ugh… Danzo… why did he have to be here to hear all that…'_ Kakashi had to wonder before turning to speak to the old man.

"Danzo, Naruto saved me from those Heartless, and he was obviously NOT controlling them, he even destroyed a few." Kakashi states before noticing the odd bangles on his arms…

"Uh… actually I can…" Naruto admits and both Tsunade and Kakashi give him a look. "But only the small ones, the big one's do whatever the hell they want and protect me." Naruto states and Danzo looks to Tsunade.

"He admits to controlling them Hokage Sama, he MUST have been the one to bring them here." Danzo states flatly and Naruto gapes towards him in response.

"What in the fuck would I gain from doing something as stupid as that? Tell me that old man!" Naruto growls out and Tsunade shakes her head, all three bracing themselves as the ground starts to rumble once more.

"Naruto I don't care if you called them or not, just tell me how we STOP them!" Tsunade orders and Danzo grits his teeth while Naruto shakes his head.

"Naruto-Kun, think is there anything besides that weapon of yours that can hurt them?" Kakashi questions of his student calmly, Danzo suddenly eyeing the Dark-Soldier-Key at that little tidbit.

"I really don't know. Once this many get started on a world it's nearly impossible to destroy them all." Naruto replies and Danzo is the one who catches the snippet.

"A" World, as in more than one?" He questions with obvious interest and Naruto gives him a look.

"Yes. These things, The Heartless, they absorb the hearts of others, thus creating more Heartless. The stronger the Darkness in a heart the more powerful the Heartless becomes. Giving yourself to them willingly allows your conscious mind to remain even as a Heartless. Right now it looks like the Heartless have found the Keyhole to our world and absorbed it's heart, meaning everything is going to be pulled into Darkness." Naruto explains, barely sure why he knows this in the first place.

"How do you even know any of this Naruto?" Tsunade questions while gaping towards the blond boy and Naruto scratches his head in response.

"I don't really understand it either Baachan… I just do." Naruto offers and Danzo frowns then crouches down as another quake hits.

"I'm telling you Tsunade, HE is the one who brought these things here! If it weren't true how would he know any of this? I bet he wanted them to come so he could destroy them and make us think he was a hero." Danzo reasons and Naruto growls, his eyes turning yellow as he does so.

"Danzo that's out of line!" Kakashi states angrily, the old man snorting as Naruto's yellow eyes seem to start to glow.

"Is it? Or are you forgetting he's always wanted to rule this village. As far as I'm concerned, he's just trying to make us think he's strong so he can take control." Danzo states, thinking that because HE'D do the same thing, and was wondering how he could get control of these "Heartless" to the extent that Naruto obviously did.

"Why you crippled old bastard! I've bled and practically died for this village almost a hundred times over and you can still accuse me of something like that! Where the hell do you get off?!" Naruto demands angrily, pools of Darkness suddenly rising up out of the ground around him. Kakashi cursing and flipping away from one as a new heartless rose up behind Naruto.

This one like the others was all black, however it had two claws for toes with a pair of small amber eyes, it's mouth was nothing more than a set of sharp looking teeth and a pair of curved purple horns extended up from its head forming a heart shape, a pair of spikes are jutting out from either side of the creatures head like some form of ears, with a heart shaped hole resides just bellow it's chest, it's body looks muscled and strong with a pair of large arms that end in massive clawed hands, white feathered wings sprouting from either elbow while two demonic wings stretch out from it's shoulders, a long tail also swings back and forth behind it, a massive crescent shaped blade at the end of it, while blue/violet flames lay beneath it's feet as it hovers there behind the blond. (Pureblood Heartless: Invisible…)

"Naruto, Stop!" Tsunade orders upon seeing the new Heartless behind him and Naruto turns his head slightly to look at her with one yellow eye, her own eyes widening upon seeing them.

"Stop what?! Stop telling the truth?!" Naruto demands, his mind being clouded over by Darkness as several Shadows begin to climb out of the pools of Darkness around him. "All I ever wanted was a little respect, not much, just for people to stop treating me like the Kyuubi and actually treat me like a human being!" Naruto says as a Neo-Shadow rises up between him and Danzo, the one eyed / armed man backing away in fear. In his mind, the man tried to reason out what was going on, and it occurred to him the blond's power might only be in a developmental stage, thus, he wasn't controlling anything and it was all happening in reaction to his anger…

"And what does it get me? What! Accusations about my motives, that's what! I've never once looked for anything but the respect everyone else gets, that's it! But if THIS is what I get in return, well that's it! NO MORE! From now on, I'll make my own path, I'll build my own Road to Destiny!" Naruto says as moves his arms into an X over his chest and the darkness suddenly starts to wrap around his body, Tsunade and Danzo look in on in shock and fear…

What is soon revealed from the Darkness is no longer Naruto, it's body was covered in what looked like black muscle tissue, it's knees were covered by red pads, it groin was also covered by red padding of some kind, much like its chest and abs which were covered by red muscle with black filling the inside of it, it's hands were covered by the same muscle like tissue, only with red over his forearms and hands while his fingers were left black.

Worn over it's feet and shins were covered by red boots with thick black soles and silver trim at the top, both of the boots being made out of the same muscle tissue as his suit, around his waist is a red belt, coming down from the belt was an odd black half skirt like thing with red on its tattered edges, a pair of red straps were crossed in front of it into an X to hold the flaps together and also attached to the belt itself, the six spellbinders Naruto had been wearing were still present, one at each wrist, the next pair over the middle of his forearms, and the last two at his biceps.

However, over his head and covering everything from view was a silver almost flame shaped helmet, the helmet only covering along his jaw and the back of his head, the rest was covered by an odd black field of some kind that was nearly completely smooth unlike the sharp edges of the helm itself…

"N-Naruto?" Tsunade asks while looking to the armored figure and he reaches to his back and takes hold of Dark-Soldier before holding it towards her…

_[No Tsunade… I am the first Seeker of Darkness…]_ The teen says in an ominous voice, one that seems to echo within her very mind as he speaks.

"Destroy him quickly lady he must not…" Danzo started to say only for Naruto to wave a hand backwards, a Neo-Shadow jumping on him then ripping his heart out. Looking on with wide eyes, Tsunade looks to the Seeker before her, eyes wide.

_[Goodbye… Baachan… Sensei…]_ The Seeker suddenly echoes ominously before jumping upward, slicing his way upwards through the tower before coming out onto the roof. Landing with a soft plop he then turns as Tsunade lands on the roof as well. Sighing, the blond then jumps up into the air, his body shimmering as the Darkness seems to form a mist around him, his armor vanishing as he is pulled towards the dark sphere by a current of it's own power…

"And so… it… begins…" The old man from before whispers to himself, hovering in midair with his arms crossed behind his back. Chuckling lightly, the man then snaps his fingers and is engulfed by black energy, certain that nothing more of interest will occur on this world.

--

TBC…

--

AN: The "Dark Soldier Key" is the same one used by Xehanort's Apprentice in Birth by Sleep, I just gave it a name because otherwise I'd end up calling it Keyblade throughout the bulk of the story. Though the name comes from one of the Nicknames I've seen used with the Apprentice, my other idea was one of my sisters or "Slave Unknown" but personally I didn't think that went well with the Keyblade he's using…


	4. Sinister Shadows

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 3**_: _**Sinister Shadows**_…

--

"Normal Speech…"

'_Normal Thoughts_…'

"**Demon Speech**…"

'_**Demon Thoughts**_…'

_[Seeker Speech…]_

--

(??)

Slowly, a pair of familiar blue eyes opened up, looking all around, he found himself in a void. "The darkness…" He mumbled to himself before closing his eyes and giving a strange little smirk. "Everyone fears… and misunderstands the Darkness… it isn't inherently evil… it's just trying to find it's place in the worlds… its just like me…" Naruto mumbles, eyes distant as though he isn't the one speaking, as though something else is speaking through him in fact.

Falling through Darkness, the Dark-Soldier-Key in one hand, the blond soon feels his back come into contact with something and opens his eyes. Looking up, he sees a single ray of light and blinks, and then smirks slightly. "There's always a little light, even in the darkness…" He notes while slowly closing his eyes and laying back, enjoying the brief reprieve from any and all conflict… enjoying the silence, and enjoying the freedom from all the chaos his life had so quickly become…

"_Ah, so you return at last. And I thought you might wish a little rest from me."_ An amused voice notes, one that causes Naruto's eyes to snap open as he then sits up and looks around, finding a familiar eternal blackness, and then realizes the light from above is familiar as well, causing him to grimace. _"I'm sorry to say that your tests are not yet complete lad."_ The crisp voice comments and Naruto slowly stands up, looking down he sighs noting that he is still in his own clothing at the least.

"What do you need from me this time?" Naruto demands while crossing his arms and the voice emits a light chuckle, as if amused by the question from the blond.

"_Patience my dear boy. All shall be revealed in time."_ The voice says and Naruto rolls his eyes before spotting his Dark-Soldier-Key nearby, making his way over to it, the blond kicks it upwards and catches it in his right hand. Looking down he then frowns while wondering what is up with the strange stained glass he is standing on this time.

Below him is a scene depicting a strange very muscular and bald man with ashen colored skin and yellow eyes, in his hands he carries a pair of jaggedly shaped and curved swords. Around him is an array of faces to people he's never seen before, an old man with a beard and white eyes, a woman with a strange headdress and curly hair in a bun, a man with flames seemingly forming into his bead and hair, another in a strange looking helmet, a man with markings over his face, and last is a man with a strange crown of leaves. Behind the ashen man, is a burning city made from stone, the silhouettes of massive giants within the small scene…

"_I believe you know the basics of Combat. But lets see if you remember what I taught you about movement…"_ The voice suddenly comes and then muses and Naruto frowns before looking around, then at his Dark-Soldier-Key. Crouching he lunges forward and then twists to run around the floor, throwing the Dark-Soldier-Key he then hops onto it and is surprised when he floats off the ground as he had done before. _'Was that… is all of this only a dream?'_ Naruto wonders while floating before shaking his head, deciding that if it all was he wants to wake up soon and get back to Konoha.

Flying around, Naruto does a few tricks, and then comes to a stop in the center of the light, the voice returning once more. _"Good. It's nice to know that you actually listened to me."_ The voice muses and Naruto frowns while crossing his arms and looking around, wishing the voice would hurry up already. _"Now now, patience is a virtue Naruto. And besides that, before you begin your journey, let me find out a little more about you…'_ The voice then says and Naruto raises a hand as a bright light suddenly consumes him, making him grit his teeth before then opening his eyes, gaping as he finds himself in a totally white room.

Besides being white, the room seemed to be made of metal, with odd jagged spikes here and there. However, it was the three people in the room that surprised Naruto since he had never seen them before in his life. The first was a tall man with spiky, blood colored hair and two upside down tear marks below his eyes, his arms were crossed over his chest as he leaned back into a wall, his eyes closed. He wore a strange black cloak with the hood down and a silver chain at his throat with pull strings beside it and a silver zipper down the front, a pair of black gloves and boots.

Nearby was what appeared to be a girl in an identical outfit to the man, the hood up and shadowing most of her face, leaving only her lower face visible. And to the opposite of the man was a boy in the cloak, his entire form covered, as not even the slightest hint of his face was visible beyond the veil of shadows beneath his hood. _"These three shall let me learn more about you, go on now, it's only a few questions."_ The voice says with an encouraging tone, making Naruto frown as he walks over to the one without his hood on as he bobs his head lightly.

"Yo." The man offers with a grin while opening his bright eyes and raises a hand, Naruto looking at him with a confused expression. "What is it that's most important to you?" The man then asks while looking at Naruto, the blond frowning in thought for a few moments before answering.

"My precious people." He says and the man hums for a moment and Naruto walks over to the girl as she watches him before smiling and tilting her head.

"What do you fear most?" She asks and Naruto frowns in thought once more.

"Loosing everything…" He whispers softly and the girl crosses her arms behind her back before leaning forward at the waist.

"Is that really so bad?" She asks and Naruto ignores the question and makes his way over to the last boy, whom is standing with his arms crossed behind his head.

"What do you want to want from life?" He asks and Naruto frowns once more, thinking deeply about what his answer should be…

"I want to explore and see new things." Naruto says and the boy nods his head slowly, the room suddenly darkening.

"_Your Precious People are most important to you. You fear to loose everything. You wish to explore and see new things…"_ The voice from before says in a thoughtful tone, Naruto looking around as the darkness then swallows him up and pulls him below once more. _"Your adventure has already begun, just keep a steady pace and you'll make it through just fine…"_ The voice suddenly echoes as Naruto finds himself on another pedestal, a new stained glass view on it below him.

This one features a trio of kids as the most prominent feature, first was a muscular male with blond curly swept back hair and amber eyes, then a girl with brown curly hair and green eyes, and last a husky looking boy with spiky brown hair and brown eyes. The three were standing side by side, the blond up front, and an odd little town behind them, four small circles around them, one with a man with spiky red hair, one with a girl with short black hair, one with an old man in a violet hood with red eyes and blue skin, and last was one with a girl with glowing green eyes and white hair.

Around the edges of this particular scene was a series of different symbols in an odd circular pattern. Looking at the rather intricate scene with a raised brow, he had to wonder what was up with all of these weird stained glass views that were somehow popping up below him when they shouldn't have been able to support his weight.

"_Now a new test is in order…"_ The voice suddenly comes and an odd door forms in the center of the room, Naruto frowning as he walks over to it. _"Every door has a key, but can you find the right one?"_ The voice then asks and Naruto looks around, two keys appearing, one on the girl and the other on the strange man in the larger circles. Frowning, Naruto walks over to the first key and finds that it's the one over the man, being a black key with spikes for the teeth, a heart with an X through it at the end.

"_The key of Darkness, undeniable ambition, none shall be allowed to halt its path forward…"_ The voice called out and Naruto hung onto the key while walking over to the second one, which was white with rounded teeth and a heart in the very end of it. _"The key of Light, absolute courage, he who would walks this path, takes the path of the hero."_ The voice echoed and for some reason, Naruto frowned while looking at either key, then walked over to the door and looked at it.

Looking at both keys he noticed that the key hole was much too large for either of them, thus he shook his head and dropped both before then reaching to his back, taking the Dark-Soldier-Key and frowned. _"The Dark-Soldier-Key…"_ The voice suddenly echoed and Naruto looked at his blade in shock. _"A key of unimaginable strength, he who walks its path, walks within the eternal shadows…"_ The voice echoed ominously, but Naruto merely frowned as he then twisted the key in his hands before then stabbing it into the keyhole and turning it.

Instantly the tumblers within the keyhole snapped open and Naruto quickly pulled the Dark-Soldier-Key from it, only to be pulled into the darkness beyond the door. Landing in a crouch, Naruto reached up with a groan and rubbed his head. Looking downwards, Naruto saw a new scene and mentally twitched. This one had a girl with shoulder length dark auburn hair, wearing an old blue dress with an apron that had old astronomical symbols on the pockets, a wicked looking knife in one hand, and haunted and somehow broken looking emerald green eyes, while behind her the scene depicted an odd, twisted world that looked to have been something directly out of a nightmare.

Around her and in circles was an odd mangy and somehow grinning cat with a gold earring and glowing eyes and teeth, an odd looking white rabbit with a black top hat, a green skinned man with a tall hat, and last was what appeared to be an odd woman in red. Around the edges of this scene was a depiction of numerous symbols from astronomy, while forming an X behind the girl and the four circles were playing card hearts, clubs, spades, and diamonds…

"_Every warrior has strength…"_ The voice noted and Naruto twitched, wondering why the damn voice liked bothering him. _"But now you must give it form."_ The voice then echoes and Naruto blinks, several pedestals rising up around the area. The first pedestal had a sword, the next one had a shield, then a short-rod, however, they went on with one that had an oddly shaped Kunai on it, an old looking book of some kind, then one with a pair of gauntlets, next had one with what appeared to be an old bo-staff, and last was a ball of all things.

Frowning, Naruto walked over to the ball first and picked it off of the pedestal, looking at it with a frown. It was an odd ball, being made primarily from a blue crystal with a red tri-circle shape inside of it. (Dream Orb) _"The power of the Athlete, amazing speed and agility, only the farthest reach limits thy path…"_ The voice called out and Naruto frowned, while as a Ninja he was also an athlete, he wasn't really interested in that power. Placing the ball down, he turned to the next one and then picked it up with a frown. It was an old red Bo-Staff, with gold tips on the ends and an intricate pattern along its body, the tri-circle symbol placed at the middle of it in black. (Dream Staff)

"_The power of the Adventurer, an unyielding will, none shall keep him from reaching his goals…"_ The voice called out and Naruto frowned, while it was true that he had an unyielding will, the "None shall keep him from his goals" was a little too much like Sasuke for his tastes thank you. Placing the staff back down, Naruto walked to the gauntlets and raised a brow. These were black fingerless gloves first, with plates of metal plates over where his fingers would be into claws, then a plate over the back of the fist, a gold ring for the wrist, and then a long plate for the back of the forearm, a sharp blade at the sides of them and the tri-circle at the back of the fist in blue. (Dream Gauntlets)

"_The power of the Fighter, unmatched Stamina, no matter how hard the battles he shall never tire…"_ The voice calls out and Naruto frowns slightly while looking at the old gauntlets, then shakes his head. While he was a stamina freak, he wasn't a fighter by nature and as such, this wouldn't suit him anymore than the last two. Moving to the Kunai, Naruto twitched upon seeing it. It was black, and had three points on it with a red at the end and red leather wrapped tightly around its handle, the Tri-Circles was placed at the base of the blade just above the handle in white… (Dream Kunai)

"_The power of the Thief, the deceivers ultimate gift, he fears neither shadows nor darkness…"_ The voice called out and yet again Naruto frowned, he was a Ninja and so this WAS in his element, but he wasn't a deceiver, nor did he like to think of himself as a thief. Shaking his head he put the Kunai down and walked over to the book. Picking it up, he saw it was an old purple book with a white tri-circle symbol on it with silver trimming all around it. (Dream Tome)

"_The power of the Sage, ancient wisdom, a book filled with wondrous knowledge…"_ The voice called out and Naruto frowned, knowing that he was anything but a sage after all. Placing the book down he then walked over to the shield this time. The shield was red, with a three-circle symbol on the front with a black background behind it and four red studs. (Dream Shield)

"_The power of the Guardian, kindness to aid friends, a shield to repel all…"_ The voice called out and Naruto smiled, this one seeming more like him than any of the others. However, he then lowered his head while placing the shield back down, he'd already failed at being a guardian seeing as his world was absorbed into Darkness… Turning he then made his way over to the wand and picked it up with a frown. It was green with a yellow tip, a small brown oval formed over the top with a blow tri-circle symbol formed at the very top. (Dream Rod)

"_The power of the Mystic, inner strength, a staff of wonder and ruin…"_ The voice called out and Naruto frowned in thought while holding the staff. He did have inner strength, but was he really a mystic at heart? No. He liked Jutsu and all but he very rarely actually used any now that he thought about it, so Mystic was out as well…

Next was an odd weapon, it was a simple broadsword, the blade was curved inward near it's hilt, the guard of the weapon being a yellow U shape with a red field with a black tri-circle symbol, the handle was black with blue lines forming several X's down it, with a gold pommel made into a spike at the end. (Dream Sword)

"_The power of the Warrior, invincible courage, a sword of terrible destruction…"_ The voice echoes as Naruto looks at the strange weapon, and then slowly sighs while looking upwards into the endlessly black sky. He had already seen enough to know what he was and wasn't, and while obviously, the other weapons had a sort of good feeling to them in the Shield and the Kunai, he had failed as a guardian and he'd failed as a Ninja to be honest with himself… this time he wouldn't fail, the power of the sword would help him to protect anyone he still could, even if he could no longer be the Guardian, he'd defend those that would fight at his side. Sighing, the blond stepped back while taking the sword and then swung it a few times to get a feel fro it.

"_Your path is set…"_ The familiar voice echoed out and the sword suddenly vanished from sight and Naruto looked around for something to happen. _"Now what will you give up in exchange?"_ The voice then asked and immediately Naruto walked over to the staff, looking at it he sighed and tossed it into the air, the staff vanished in a bright spark of light. _"You've chosen the power of the Warrior. You've given up the power of the Adventurer… is this the form you choose?"_ The voice questioned and Naruto slowly nodded his head. As soon as he did, the ground beneath him began to rumble as the pedestals all fell into the stained glass.

The glass beneath him rumbled, it shook and then the glass shattered, dropping him down into the darkness below. Falling, the blond reached back and took hold of both of his odd, key shaped weapons while falling down towards something. Landing, the blond looked around and found himself in an odd place, on top of yet another pedestal that made him twitch violently and inwardly curse whoever thought this was funny.

This pedestal had yet another new scene, this one had something surprising on it, first off was a man in an orange Spiral mask with a black hooded cloak, behind him was a scene of silhouetted people, and then around him in circles were several people, two he recognized as Hoshugake Kisame and Uchiha Itachi, between the circles was an ominously and very familiar red cloud symbol…

"_I believe you've earned a gift…"_ The voice suddenly called out and a pedestal appeared, this one having a familiar looking blade on it.

This blade was actually shaped like a massive key rather than a sword, only the handle was covered in black leather, the pommel of the blade was a silver ring with a blue cap at the bottom, the top of the handle was a blue cylinder that expanded into another silver ring, the guard was red and curved outward in an odd uneven pattern on both sides forming into two spikes on both sides of the outside while on the inside it was completely smooth, the blade of the weapon was a solid black color and both long and sharp, the very tip of the blade was formed into a sharpened edge that was slightly chipped while just below the chip a heart was formed into the blade, a curved edge of the blade curving into a jagged spike and curl from the odd sword, all and all however the hilt itself looked like it was meant for one hand, having no room for two hands unlike the Dark-Soldier-Key. (Dark-Heart-Key)

Shaking his head, Naruto then picked the familiar weapon up and closed his eyes as he heard the voice echo out once more… _"Go on, take it."_ The voice offers and Naruto frowns, and then places both Keyblades onto his back while wondering how they hold onto him with no sheathes. Looking around Naruto feels something, seeing a light in the center of the room he walks over to it and stands still, crossing his arms as he does.

"_Now to learn some more about your spellbinders, with them you have access to the powers of magic."_ The voice suddenly calls out while Naruto looks at the bands with a slight frown on his face, before then shrugging his shoulders. However, he then notes that a purple gem on his right hand is glowing and wonders why none of the others were. _"The Spellbinder of Darkness, with it, you have power over the Heartless and Darkness itself…"_ The voice explained, causing Naruto to flinch slightly, seeing as that meant IT was the reason for him knowing all about the Darkness…

"_Now, it's time you learned of the true power of Darkness…"_ The voice calls out ominously and Naruto frowns while looking at the Darkness Spellbinder. _"The Spellbinders mainly work by converting your need into form, should you need armor it will appear, should you need a doorway, so shall it, should you need aide, Heartless shall come to your call… Try to make a Doorway."_ The voice called out and Naruto frowned but then closed his eyes, imagining a doorway, taking a step back in surprise when a massive gate like the one the Heartless had made appeared before him.

"_A 'Dark Corridor' the Heartless way of traveling between worlds."_ The voice offers while Naruto looks at the door with a slight twitch. _"Do not be afraid. Walk through it to reach your next test."_ The voice offers to him kindly and Naruto bites his lower lip before then slowly walking forward. Making his way to the door, he then closes his eyes, takes a breath and then jumps through the Dark-Corridor and into the shadows beyond its depths… Soon feeling his feet make contact with a solid floor, the boy slowly opens his blue eyes, finding himself on another pillar.

Looking down, the blond is shocked to see himself on this one, his arms crossed into an X with his two Keyblades and Spellbinders present, while his body is knelt down and garbed in new clothing he's never seen before, eyes closed with several silhouetted figures sanding behind and around him, in the nine circles around him he sees people he's never met, some having been on the numerous pedestals before this one. However, on a large circle formed over his head he sees Sasuke, his back turned to him while he sees crossed key shapes forming into X's between every circle.

"_And so at last, we come to our final test…"_ The familiar voice suddenly echoed and Naruto twitched, wondering why that sounded awfully familiar before reaching back and removing his twin keys from his back. As soon as he did, a man appeared before him, dressed in a black cloak he caused Naruto to pause, the cloak was identical to the one worn by the old man; only this person was his own height and wore sneakers rather than boots beneath it, not slouched and now had a pair of Keyblades in his hands.

The first was a white keyblade with a tassel at the end reaching down to a strange shell like object, the handle of the blade was grey, it curved upward into a pair of white wings that slanted down to form the guard, a heart shape was cut out of the center of the guard, in-between the blade guard and handle, two gray spikes extending at angles from it, the blade itself was white and made of two parts, the first one went upwards and formed into a strange blue, white, and yellow kanji for Light with a spike curling upwards above it, the second part curved upwards into a yellow swirl, both being attached to a dark blue heart shape held between them. (Oathkeeper)

The seconds was pitch black, with a chain at the end reaching down to a black crown the handle was a segmented gray part with grooves, the guard was formed from a blue gem at it's center, a pair of bat like wings arching from it down to the base of the hilt, the blade was then black, with a chain like shape reaching upwards to a gray part of the blade, the gray part forming the oddly shaped tip of the weapon, and finally, if Naruto wasn't mistaken, the Kanji for Darkness was then forming the teeth of the Keyblade, surprising the blond greatly. (Oblivion)

Looking at this other warrior also using two Keyblades, Naruto flipped Dark-Soldier in his left hand to a reverse grip and got into a low crouch. His opponent merely held both of his own at his sides while slightly crouched, holding them so he could swing either of them easily. Lunging forward, Naruto and the other warrior swung their blades, Naruto twisting his left arm to block the incoming blades with Dark-Soldier before swinging Dark-Heart at his head.

The cloaked figure merely flipped backwards to evade then lunged forward once more. Naruto twisted on his heel, swinging either of his blades at the other warrior, only for him to kick out and knock him to the ground. Grunting and slamming a fist into the dirt, Naruto then rolled out of the way as the warrior came at him swinging those two blades once more. Flipping into a roll, the blond got to his feet and blocked the oncoming blades with both of his own. Soon moving back as the warrior did, the two circled one another, each looking for a way to attack.

Naruto frowned towards the warrior, then stopped, the other warrior coming at him, only for him to look at his Darkness Spellbinder and frown. Snapping his fingers he created a Dark-Corridor behind himself and jumped into it. The darkness closed soon after, the person sliding to a halt before he could fall and looked around for the other blond. Naruto soon appeared out of the corridor above him, swinging Dark-Heart at the other warrior. The warrior quickly rolled out of the way of this and then twisted on his heel, sending a ball of fire from one of his Keyblades flying towards Naruto.

Frowning, Naruto blocked with Dark-Soldier then he grinned darkly, eyes suddenly turning a bright yellow color as he quickly slammed his fist into the ground, causing a familiar void of black to appear below him. Two shadows then scampered out of the darkness and directly at the unknown warrior. Watching as the warrior went to attack the Shadow's Naruto lunged forward, swinging his blades as one of the Shadow's then jumped on the warriors side and swiped it's claws at him, darkness cutting through his cloak only for it to quickly heal as he pushed Naruto back and then knocked the Shadow off of himself before kicking the other one.

Smirking now, Naruto tossed Dark-Soldier behind himself and flipped onto the now floating blade. Remembering what he learned in his first trip to this place, Naruto shifted forward, swinging Dark-Heart at the man. The warrior quickly rolled under Naruto and then landed in a crouch, the two Shadow's coming at him he spun on his heel, a spiral of white energy reaching out to slice through the Shadow's. Frowning as he stands on Dark-Soldier, Naruto then twists his body and fly's down towards the figure, swinging Dark-Heart at him he connects the ebony blade with his opponents dual blades, causing him to hold them both in an X as Naruto pushed him towards the edge of the massive pillar.

The warrior quickly flipped over Naruto however, and the blond frowned as he then twisted Dark-Soldier around, floating over the edge of the pillar as the warrior then ran towards him with a roar. Grinning slightly, Naruto snapped his fingers once more, another Dark-Corridor appearing behind him which he quickly stepped through, the corridor closing behind him as the warrior slid to a halt and fought to regain his balance before he fell from the pillar.

Behind him, Naruto appeared out of his Dark-Corridor, then lunged at the warrior. Quickly turning the warrior ducked beneath a swing from Dark-Soldier then rolled to the side to avoid a stab from Dark-Heart. Slowly returning to his feet, the warrior and Naruto squared off once more, the blond haired boy frowning towards the other keyblade user. Suddenly smirking, Naruto then crouched, swinging Dark-Soldier onto his back he formed a Rasengan into his left hand. Surprised the warrior didn't wait to see what would happen next as he lunged forward, while quickly swinging his blades at the blond.

Naruto grinned at this, and then lunged forward below the other warrior's Keyblades before slamming his Rasengan into the warrior's stomach. The warrior went flying back from this, Naruto smirking as he then leveled Dark-Heart along his shoulders with a strange smirk, eyes still a startling yellow. The warrior was sent flying back, soon landing at the very edge of the pillar and half hanging off of it, one of his Keyblades falling from his hands as Naruto walked over to him. Placing a foot on top of the warrior, Naruto held Dark-Heart towards him with a smirk.

However in a flash of light, the second keyblade returned to his hand and Naruto quickly flipped back, away from the other and into a crouch. The warrior then slowly rose up, his hood falling back and causing Naruto's eyes to widen. The other warrior had bright, familiar blue eyes, and blond spiky hair; the face was also familiar… in fact, the kid looked like his twin! The only difference was the style of this kids hair was in a weird sweeping motion, and that he didn't have the scars on his cheeks like Naruto did…

"Your me…" Naruto whispers in shock and the other blond narrows his eyes.

"No. You're the Other…" He says, confusing Naruto as he then roars and lunges forward, swinging both of his keyblades at the startled blond. Quickly shaking his surprise and confusion off, Naruto bats the other blond away with Dark-Heart while he quickly pulled Dark-Soldier from his back and crouched down into a stance.

"Other?" He then asks while staring at the other blond with a raised brow, the other blond quickly flipping up to his feet as well.

"Your our counterpart, the other side of our heart… for all the light in us, you have a darkness to match it." He says and Naruto raises a brow, wondering whose counterpart he was supposed to be. "We are equal and opposite, positive and negative, dark and light." The boy states darkly, making Naruto hum slightly, wondering how exactly that worked.

"Well… I wouldn't exactly say we're equal now…" Naruto then muses as he slams a fist into the ground, the other boy gritting his teeth as three Shadow Type Heartless suddenly form out of the void beneath him. "After all, I've been beating you thus far quite easily thus far." Naruto notes then points to the other blond, the Shadows' quickly rushing towards him. Gritting his teeth the other blond quickly dispenses the Shadows', then curses and rolls out of the way as Naruto nearly comes down on top of him, swinging his two Keyblades wildly.

The other blond easily evaded the blows, obviously the superior swordsman but what Naruto lacked in experience or skill, he more than made up for with creativity as he suddenly lashed out with a kick to the boy's gut, sending him flying back. Suddenly holding his arms in an X as the boy slowly got back to his feet, a familiar black haze rose from the ground and wrapped around the other blond, forming into his red and black Seeker Armor. Cursing, the other blond lunged out of the way as Naruto came on him, swinging his Dark-Soldier Keyblade down on him.

Twisting on his heel, Naruto swung his Dark-Heart Key at the other blond, and then flipped upwards before bringing the weapon down on him once more. The other blond quickly blocked with his own two keyblades, gritting his teeth while falling to one knee. Roaring out, he then pushed Naruto back, the young Seeker merely flipping and landing in a stance, weapons held at the ready. The other blond rose up as well and spun his keyblades in hand before lunging forward, slamming into Naruto and sending both blonds into the air.

Grunting as the blond connected with him, Naruto flipped over his opponent and then spun into a slash, the blond blocking and then pushing him back. Growling, Naruto then threw his Keyblade into a spin, nailing the other blond in the leg and causing him to hit the ground face first while Naruto landed in a crouch. Crouching down with a grin, Naruto suddenly shook his head and groaned, his eyes turning back to their azure hue beneath his helmet. _[What… what am I doing?]_ Naruto wondered then cursed as his opponent came at him once more, swinging his blades at him in beautiful arcs.

Flipping back Naruto ducked a swing from the other blond before then slamming his head into his face. The other blond groaned, disorientated Naruto lunged forward and jumped and kicked him in the chest with both legs, sending the other blond flying off of the side of the massive pillar. _[Shit!]_ Naruto says while quickly rushing over to the side of the pillar, he sees the boy fall farther down before vanishing in a flash of light. _[He… wasn't real?]_ Naruto wonders while slowly standing up.

"_Actually he was."_ The annoyingly familiar voice offered and Naruto frowned before placing his keyblades onto his back. _"You needed not only to know how to use the powers of Darkness, but also to remember not to let it consume you, or you won't be yourself anymore."_ The voice explained and nodded his head absently, seeing as he felt he became kind of… well… DARK when he used those powers… Shaking his head, the young blond then concentrated, allowing the dark armor to fall away as he then sighed.

"So what now?" Naruto asks while looking into the endless abyss, and then blinks as a flash of light comes from his left wrist. Looking at it, he's slightly surprised to see the white gem on it now glowing.

"_Now you have unlocked the Spellbinder of Knowledge. Any language of a world you've never been too, will now be available to you, and knowledge of many other things will be easier to obtain and understand."_ The voice offered and Naruto wondered why he couldn't have THAT one first if it was so useful… powers of Darkness were cool and all, but he'd much rather be able to understand whatever the hell the voice or even that old man from before had always been trying to say to him.

"_You're training is fully complete…"_ The voice suddenly echoed, the stained glass he was standing on darkening one section at a time. _"Now go forth, and end the cycle…"_ The voice said as Naruto backed up to the center of the stained glass. _"And always remember… as your enemies are protectors of the light…"_ The voice then states and Naruto and the entirety of everything around him is consumed by Darkness… _"You are the Seeker of Darkness…"_

--

TBC…

--

The "Dark-Heart-Key" is the same one as used by Riku when Ansem, in the first Kingdom Hearts, possessed him. It can unlock a persons heart in the game, and it just looked cool in my own opinion, when compared to other Keyblades this one actually had a sharpened edge and that made it seem more dangerous, thus perfect for Naruto. The blade has no official name as far as I know, but it seemed like a true Key of Darkness as apposed to King Mickey's "Darkside" Keyblade.


	5. Twilight Town

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 4**_: _**Twilight Town**_…

--

"Normal Speech…"

'_Normal Thoughts_…'

"**Demon Speech**…"

'_**Demon Thoughts**_…'

_[Seeker Speech…]_

--

(??)

"Is he going to be okay, Hayner?" A female voice questions as Naruto finds himself laid out somewhere.

"I don't know, but look at the heavy weapons he's carrying around. Guy must be some kind of fighter… though why he's wearing such a bright jumpsuit I'll never know. And then the style of these clothes are just so weird, I mean, where does a person even find leather sandals like that?" A male voice, which he guesses belongs to "Hayner", comments and Naruto groans slightly in his throat while lifting a hand to his head.

"Hey look, he's starting to wake up!" Another, much softer male voice notes as Naruto then opens his azure blue eyes and sees three people hovering over him.

"Man, you seriously gave us a scare there." The one he assumes is Hayner comments while crossing his arms. The teen looks to be about Naruto's age, with his wavy pale blond hair moved into odd angles that seem to spike up and backwards, his eyes being an odd shade of pale orange, his skin is tanned from the sun, and he has a strong muscular build. He wears a black sleeveless shirt with an odd jagged white skull emblem emblazoned on the front, a necklace with a yellow X at his collar, a small pale green vest with pockets on the front, a brown bracelet on his left wrist, camouflage pants that end just below his calves, and a pair of camo-colored shoes with white toes and two black bands forming an X over them.

"Ugh… where am I?" Naruto questions mostly of himself before his eyes snap open and he sits up, the three around him quickly moving back. "Wait I was just in the darkness, am I…?" Naruto starts to ask, only to stop and actually take a look around, seeing some kind of alley with a red cloth near a doorway, a bunch of old stuff placed around it seemingly for seats.

"Uh, are you okay pal?" Another of the kids asks and Naruto looks over to him and sees another new face. This kid is like the last one in being around his age, possibly younger, with his brown hair pulled upwards and held upwards by a black headband where it then forms a ring of spikes, his eyes are a rather innocent brown color, and he has the same tanned skin though is pudgy compared to the last one. He wears a dark blue bandana around his neck, with a red jersey that has white arms and a black trim, the word DOGSTREET on the front of it in white with a black dog with bones symbol beside it, a pair of loose long blue jeans, and a pair of blue and white sneakers, the tongues hanging up over his pant legs.

"Y-yeah… I guess I was just surprised to see it wasn't a dream… and that I'm not back in the village." Naruto admits while rubbing his head, inwardly scowling at thoughts of Konoha. Even given that the Darkness made him more aggressive, it was true that he was sick of them always suspecting him of treason or betrayal when he'd only ever tried to defend their sorry Asses!

"I don't know about any village, we found you passed out near here, so we brought you inside and hoped you'd wake up." A girl says and Naruto turns to see this girl, blinking when he notes that she also looks to be around his age. The girl has brown hair that fans out from her ears and several strands coming down from the sides to the front of her chest in wavy curls, her eyes are a bright emerald green and her skin is much paler than the boys, and has only an average build with her developing curves showing slightly. The girl wears a necklace with a blue sphere hanging down from her neck, a bracelet of the same blue spheres around her right wrist, an orange shirt with a floral pattern on the front going to her right side, old tan pants that reach to the middle of her calves, orange socks, and a pair of white and yellow shows with brown soles.

"Found me? Then… how did I get here?" Naruto wonders before suddenly looking at his arms, frowning as he looks to them, and then narrows his eyes on the Spellbinder of Knowledge, the white gem glowing softly. "No… it wasn't a dream… then I really am…" Naruto starts to say to himself, before Hayner suddenly clears his throat, the blond boy blinking before looking to him.

"Alright, I have no clue what you're talking about. But I would LIKE to know why the hell your carrying around those two weird looking blades on your back." Hayner says and Naruto reaches back to pull Dark-Heart and Dark-Soldier from his back, frowning towards the Keyblades as he does.

"I use them for protection…" Naruto offers while placing the blades back onto his back and Hayner shrugs his shoulders.

"Whatever, by the way, name's Hayner." Hayner says and Naruto nods once. "That's Pence." Hayner says while pointing to the other boy and Naruto nods once more. "And Olette." He finishes while motioning to the girl and Naruto nods his head a final time. Noticing them suddenly looking at him Naruto grins widely while reaching back to rub the back of his neck.

"Uh, sorry. I'm Naruto." Naruto offers and the three blinks before Hayner shrugs his shoulders. _'The Village… the Heartless have probably absorbed most of it by now, any remnants would have come together with other lost worlds to form a temporary world… at least if my Spellbinders are correct they should have…'_ Naruto then thinks to himself, looking upwards as he does then closes his eyes. _'I'm a Seeker of Darkness… but what does that mean? And why did that voice drop me on this world? Should I seek something here?'_ Naruto then inwardly wonders before looking up when Hayner snaps his fingers in front of him.

"You okay man? You kind of spaced out there." Hayner offers, Pence and Olette nodding in agreement and Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Naruto offers and then has a sudden thought. _'Wait a second… I'm on another world… I can explore the distant heavens just like I always wanted to now! And what's even better is as a Seeker of Darkness; I don't really have to worry about the Heartless! I can explore all I want without worry!'_ He thinks to himself with suddenly wide eyes, before then grinning towards the trio widely. "Say, could you guys show me around? I kind of… need to find something." Naruto questions and Hayner reaches up to rub his chin with a thoughtful expression.

"Well, it IS summer vacation and we've already gone to the beach once or twice now… so… Yeah, sounds better than just waiting around for the Struggle Tournament at the end of summer." Hayner muses and both Pence and Olette nod their heads with smiles. "Got any idea where we should start looking?" Hayner then asks and Naruto frowns in thought, cupping his chin and closing his eyes.

"Somewhere… dark…" Naruto says and the three look to one another and then him with raised brows.

"Dark? Man, that's really vague." Hayner says while shaking his head but Pence snaps his fingers. "Got something?" Hayner asks and Pence grins.

"The Haunted Mansion!" He says and Olette's eyes suddenly light up.

"Yeah! It's really dark on the way there, and besides it's an excuse to go snooping around." Olette offers to Hayner, the blond thinking about it before smirking and nodding his head to his two friends.

"Alright, it's settled then, first stop is The Haunted Mansion, follow us Naruto and try to stick close. Siepher has been a real pain in the ass lately, well at least since Sora beat him last year. Personally I think he might be waiting on a rematch and is starting to get pissed off." Hayner offers and then takes a look at Naruto for some reason, leaning forward and making Naruto take a step back when he got too close. "You know, you kind of look like Sora, only difference is your hair and those scars on your face…" Hayner notes and Olette and Pence both look at Naruto as well, the blond twitching as they both do so…

"Hey, your right Hayner, he really does!" Pence says with a gaping jaw and Olette is surprised by this turn of events.

"Maybe you two are related." Olette offers and Naruto grimaces.

"Uh… I'm an orphan… as far as I know, I don't have any relatives." Naruto admits and Olette flinches visibly.

"Oh… I'm sorry." She offers and the blond waves her off with a slight smile.

"No problem, it's happened before, I'm sure it'll happen again." Naruto offers the girl and Olette smiles; glad she didn't hurt the boy's feelings.

"Ugh, enough of this lets get going already." Hayner says and Naruto nods his head, the group of four making their way out of "The Usual Place" and into the Back Alley. "Alright, we'll head through the Sandlot and make our way over to the Tram Common. That's the quickest way to the Haunted Mansion." Hayner says but Pence decides to put his own two scents in.

"But Siepher is in the Sandlot! What if he sees Naruto with his weapons? You know how he gets about that kind of thing!" Pence reminds and Hayner nods his head slowly, frowning in thought till Naruto walks passed him, heading towards the Sandlot.

"You guys coming?" He asks while turning to the three, then shrugs and makes his way down to the Sandlot, Hayner, Pence, and Olette quickly following after him. Coming to the Sandlot, Naruto immediately frowns. _'Why do I feel like someone who really doesn't like me is nearby?'_ Naruto wonders to himself before tuck and rolling to the side to avoid a strange blue weapon with a gold hilt… _'That thing wouldn't really do much damage in a real fight…'_ Naruto notes with a frown and then rises back up to his feet to look at the guy who attacked him.

The guy is obviously older than he is just judging by his height, has ice blue eyes, tanned skin, and a muscular built with a black beanie hat with a dark gray colored kanji at the brow covering his very short blond hair, a scar visible over some of his face. He wears a very short blue top with a white cross and a zipper on the front, a long white sleeveless coat with a pair of brown pants with yellow pull strings at the front of his waist, and last was a pair of black shoes with blue strings around them at his ankles.

"Who are you?" The man, Siepher if Naruto is correct, demands and the younger blond twitches, his instincts instantly telling him the guy is a Teme.

"What's it to ya?" Naruto asks while getting up and crosses his arms.

"Oh a wise guy, eh." Siepher notes then grits his teeth and holds his very odd weapon towards him. "Then maybe a little "Disciplinary Action" is needed for you!" Siepher muses and Naruto reaches back to pull both Dark-Heart and Dark-Soldier from his back, then twirls them in his hands while holding Dark-Soldier in a reverse grip.

"Bring it!" Naruto says but Hayner quickly gets between them.

"Whoa! While I'd LOVE to see Siepher get his ass kicked for once, fighting with real weapons in town can get you into some serious trouble, Naruto." Hayner says quickly and Naruto frowns before nodding his head and placing his weapons back onto his back, and then crosses his arms.

"Tch, looser…" Siepher notes before turning on his heel and making his way out of the Sandlot…

"I don't know that guy, but I already know that I REALLY don't like him." Naruto says and Hayner snickers before patting Naruto's shoulder.

"Don't worry, you kind of get used to him after a while." Hayner offers and Naruto hums before frowning.

"I don't want to live quite THAT long…" He offers and Hayner can't help but crack a grin in response.

"Alright, so can we go to the Haunted Mansion now or what?" Olette suddenly asks and both blonds nod their heads while Hayner leads the way this time. "So where'd you get those Swords anyways?" Olette then asks while looking at Naruto's two Keyblades and Naruto scratches one cheek.

"Well… I got Dark-Soldier from some old dude in a black cloak and then I got Dark-Heart from a dream…" Naruto offers, confusing Olette while Pence and Hayner decided they didn't WANT to know about the second one.

"Wait, Dark-Soldier? Dark-Heart?" Pence asks with a raised brow and Naruto nods his head, pulling both blades out.

"Dark-Heart is this one…" He says while showing the black and red blade in his right hand. "… and this one is Dark-Soldier." Naruto offers while holding out the blade in his left hand held in a reverse grip.

"You named them?" Hayner asks and Naruto blinks before placing the blades onto his back.

"No… they sort of… told me their names if you'll believe that…" Naruto admits sheepishly and the three look at him strangely before deciding they didn't want to know. "Now lets get a move on." Naruto then says and Hayner nods his head, quickly running towards a hole in a nearby wall…

--

(Radiant Garden…)

King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy walked into the study that once belonged to Ansem the Wise. "Where do we start?" Donald wondered and Mickey frowned to himself before walking over to a book and opening it. Looking through it he then shook his head and placed it back where he found it.

"There are so many research notes and ancient tomes in here that it could take nearly forever to find the right one…" Mickey notes while Goofy walks around the room as well, stopping when he comes to an old book.

"Say, think this might have somethin?" Goofy asks while holding a book with the Heartless Crest on the front. In response to this, Donald slaps his face and Mickey chuckles nervously, feeling foolish since Goofy found it before him or even Donald.

"Uh, yes Goofy, I'd say that'll work…" Mickey says while walking over to the massive Dog, man, thing, and taking the book from him. Frowning, Mickey then walked over to Ansem's desk and sat down behind it. Opening the book he raised a brow as he saw all of Ansem's, both the real Ansem and his apprentices, notes. "This really will be helpful, good work Goofy." Mickey compliments and Goofy chuckles while waving a hand, Donald mumbling something under his breath.

Reading through the book, Mickey suddenly stops when it mentions something odd. "Others?" He wonders, seeing as the word is used as if it was a creature like Unversed, Heartless, or even a Nobody was. "Let's see now…" Mickey muses while flipping to the section where Others' were discussed, stopping, and the mouse then purses his lips and raises a brow, eyes suddenly bolting open. "Other's are beings of an opposite yet equal wavelength of warriors of Light. Born on words of opposite wavelengths to that of their Other, an Other is often a negative of his or her light counterpart born for the purpose of balancing out his or her Other… Hmm… didn't know they existed… but that could explain a few things…" Mickey muses before shaking his head and looking over some more things discussed in the tome while heading downstairs to find the "Room of Sleep" so he could figure out what was going on.

--

(Twilight Town…)

Naruto looked towards the supposedly "Haunted" Mansion with a frown, Hayner, Pence, and Olette behind and beside him. "So this is it?" Naruto asks and Hayner nods his head to the other blond. "Well, lets hope there's something here I can use…" Naruto mutters to himself while walking forward with the trio, passed the main gate and into the Mansion itself. What he saw was highly disappointing in that it was a normal foyer, only with broken stuff all around it.

"Eh, nothing around here." Hayner notes and then crosses his arms over his chest, Olette walking forward to look at a broken Castle statue.

"I wonder who used to live here, and why this place is such a wreck?" Olette wondered aloud and Pence shrugged, Naruto walking passed her to look out of some glass doors at the back of the room.

"Something… something is here…" He whispers and then turns around to face the three, the door behind them suddenly slamming shut and causing all but Naruto to turn to it in surprise.

"What the! Why did the door just close like that!?" Pence asks the others with wide eyes and looking all around Hayner frowning towards his friend.

"Relax, it was probably just the wind…" Hayner states and Naruto looks to either side before gritting his teeth and pulling his two Keyblades from his back.

"No Hayner, I don't think it is…" Naruto says as then several dark Corridors open around the group, Hayner, Pence, and Olette all quickly backing away as several odd white creatures stroll out of them, twisting and bending in disturbing ways.

The creatures were mostly white with jagged bodies, their legs ending in sharp jagged curves, their arms ending in three sharp fingers that were belted together by small dark grey straps, on the sides of their forms were glowing blue lines, and last was their head, which was odd as it looked like a hood of some kind with a zipper opened at the front and had an upside-down cross / heart shaped crest on it, the face within the strange hood being black with sharp "teeth" like a Heartless… (Nobody: Dusk)

"Dusk's… the most basic of all Nobodies… the bodies of those with a strong Will to live on… existing in neither darkness nor light… Unlike a Heartless a Dusk is able to use rational thought rather than instinct, it's ability to reason extending to the ability to speak to one another and work together…" Naruto mumbled out in a daze, his spellbinder of Knowledge glowing brighter than before. Shaking his head and looking around, Naruto gritted his teeth as he spotted another type of Nobody.

Unlike the first batch, these were shaped beyond oddly, having a pair of what looked like large feet with the Cross-Heart crest on each of them, an odd open hooded head between them with a silhouetted face of some kind hidden beneath it's shadows. However, seconds later one of them seemed to shapeshift, rising up out of the ground revealing a jagged body like the dusks, that the "Feet" he'd seen were actually hands and that its arms were longer than its two tiny and dark grey legs, its own body seemingly clothed in a white jumpsuit like the Dusks. (Nobody: Creeper)

"Creeper's… weakest of all Nobodies, often appearing with their stronger peers within the Nobody grouping…" Naruto whispered out in another daze before quickly shaking his head and snarling as the Nobodies rushed at Hayner and the others.

"Oh great, it's these guys again!" Hayner grumbles, while Naruto lunges passed them and swings his Keyblade at the Dusk's, slicing one of them apart before turning on his heel and swinging at another, only managing to knock it back. The Dusk's quickly slithered towards the blond at this, the teen looking around to find himself and his new trio of friends surrounded.

"Hayner, get the others somewhere safe, I'll deal with these things!" Naruto ordered and Hayner quickly nodded his head, grabbing Olette's hand and pulling her behind him as Pence followed, the teens making it to a nearby door where they slammed it shut as the Nobodies surrounded the dual blades of Naruto. "Alright you heartless freaks! Let me show you why you don't piss a Seeker of Darkness off!" Naruto growled as his eyes turned a bright yellow color. The Nobodies ignored his words however, several of the dusks lunging at him and swiping their sharp hands at him.

Growling Naruto dodged and weaved his way around the Dusk's stabbing hands, then flipped into a spin before bringing Dark-Heart down on a Creeper, cutting it in half before he spun on his heel to bat away an incoming Nobody. _'Dammit, they have superiority in num… oh duh…'_ Naruto starts to think before nearly kicking himself, quickly spinning into a kick to another Nobodies head Naruto flipped into the air and made a quick T-shaped hand seal.

"**Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!"** Naruto cried out while landing on the ground, and then was shocked as nothing happened. "What the fuck?!" He demanded before cursing and rolling back as the Nobodies came at him once more. _**"Your heart is a part of the darkness… Chakra is a force of balance… used for either good or evil… when you accepted the Darkness, you abandoned the Light that was also necessary for you to have that balance and to use Chakra…"**_ A voice chanted into his head, and out of the corner of his eye Naruto saw his Knowledge Spellbinder glowing…

"Now you tell me…" He grumbled to himself before looking around, opening a Dark Corridor and then backing into it and away from a Dusk. The corridor then opened in the air, Naruto above the Nobodies quickly swinging his twin Keyblades of Darkness at the annoying creatures, slicing through two Dusks, leaving only two more Creepers and four Dusks left for him to deal with. _'Why do these things have to be so annoying…'_ The blond had to wonder before his yellow eyes narrowed, a smirk creeping over his face as he formed a black energy over his right arm…

"Lets see what a little help can do!" Naruto muses before slamming his fist into the ground, a patch of Darkness rising and several Shadows slithering from the hole. The Shadows quickly formed up around the blond haired Seeker, Naruto twirling his Keyblades in hand unaware of Hayner, Pence, or Olette watching on from a crack in the door they were using to block view of them.

"Whoa…" Pence says and Hayner blinks.

"What are those black things?" Hayner wonders with visible shock and Olette looks confused as well, never having seen the creatures before.

"I don't know… they look kind of like inverted versions of those white things…" Olette notes and Hayner frowns Naruto grinning darkly as he lunges into the Nobodies with his four Shadows following him, lunging at the Dusks and Creepers. Smirking the teenage Seeker slips around a Dusk, confusing it and allowing a Shadow to pounce on it, clawing the Nobody viciously. Ducking around another Dusk for a similar result, Naruto then swung a Creeper upwards into the air before twisting on his heel and throwing his keyblade, slicing through the annoying creatures with deadly precision.

"Humph… these guys aren't as tough as I thought…" Naruto muttered to himself before catching Dark-Heart into his hand and flipping over another annoying Dusk before running it threw with Dark-Heart. Once that was done, only two Dusks remained, though Naruto was annoyed to see they had effectively killed off three of his Shadows… "Note to self, find stronger Heartless to control…" The blond mutters before crouching into a stance and lunging at the annoying Nobodies.

Rolling around one of them, Naruto twirled Dark-Soldier in his hand before using it to bat the Nobody into the air, then threw Dark-Heart at it, slicing through it. The Dusk near him tried to attack him from behind at that moment, but his last Shadow jumped in the way, the Dusk's sharp hands cutting through it, causing Naruto to growl as he then took hold of the still flying Dark-Heart, sliced through it, and then sheathed both of his Keyblades onto his back in a single, fluid motion.

"Not bad." Hayner offers while he and the others come out of the room, Naruto merely frowning for a moment before looking around the room.

"Why were those things here?" He had to wonder as his eyes returned to their original azure blue and Hayner shrugged his shoulders.

"Not really sure, they were here when we tried to find a Second Twilight Town in this places basement." Hayner notes and Naruto frowns to himself before then walking up a flight of stairs, soon followed by the group of teens. Coming to the second floor, Naruto turned to his left and walked down a short ways to a door. Reaching out and opening it, the blond found a totally white room, plants, furniture; everything was pure white save for the pictures seemingly drawn with crayons lying around the room.

"Whoa." Hayner says and then walks into the room with the rest of the group. "Check this place out, it's so weird…" Hayner says and Pence walks over to some of the pictures and frowns.

"This blond guy… he kind of reminds me of you, Naruto he even has two weapons." Pence says and Naruto blinks before walking over to Pence and taking the picture, now seeing a picture of what appears to be a blond boy with two keyblades.

"Hmm… that's strange…" Naruto muses while Olette finds the same blond on a number of other pictures, the others predominated by a brown haired boy.

"Do you think whoever used to live here made all these? Or maybe they had a kid… Wait, isn't this Sora?" Olette mused then asked while looking at a picture of the brown haired kid while Hayner walked around, stopping at a strange picture, depicting an odd green and white castle.

"Well unless the parents liked drawing in crayon I'd say that was a pretty safe bet, Olette. And as for it being Sora, I don't know, how many other guys dressed like that with Brown hair are there?" Hayner muses then asks rhetorically and Olette frowns towards the blond before crossing her arms with a harrumph.

"Something tells me he's not to bright…" Naruto whispers to himself, knowing that it wasn't smart to pick on a girl unless you wanted hell from them afterwards. And judging by this Olette girl, he was fairly certain she would indeed unleash utter hell on him for the crack.

"Anyways, is any of this what your looking for Naruto?" Pence then asks and Naruto frowns, looking at a picture of what appears to be himself, only garbed in red and black and fighting against the brown haired kid.

"Sort of…" Naruto admits while dropping the picture and turning on his heel, a hand to his chin as he walks out of the room. Following after the blond boy, the group then walks to the door opposite that of the white room. Opening it, Naruto finds a library and sighs. "Well, this is helpful…" Naruto mutters before shaking his head he makes his way to one of the many bookcases. Placing a finger along the spines, Naruto looks for one of them that might assist him.

Stopping, the blond suddenly pulls a piece of paper from between two books, the paper is old and yellow, folded down the middle, but has a drawing on it. The drawing is sketched with black charcoal; it depicts a broken hand mirror. Raising a brow the blond haired man opens the paper and then blinked at what he saw written inside. _"__Into the hole again, we hurried along our way, into a once-glorious garden now seeped in dark decay__." _However, that wasn't the end, for scrawled in jagged edges and deep black ink was something far more sinister…

"_**We're all mad here."**_ Raising a brow at the rather odd message, Naruto shuddered as he felt like a dark cloud had suddenly come over him. Looking at the ominous note, Naruto folded it back up and stuck it into one of his pockets before looking for another book…

"Man what are you looking for, I mean if we knew maybe we could be better help?" Hayner asks then comments while coming into the room and Naruto sighs before rubbing his face.

"Honestly, I'm not even all that sure myself…" Naruto admits then shakes his head and looks around the library. "I'm supposed to be some kind of a "Seeker of Darkness" or something, so I thought if I looked around dark places I might figure out what I'm supposed to be Seeking…" Naruto admits and Hayner, Pence, and Olette shrug, it made about as much sense as anything else in their lives.

"Well, I don't think we'll be finding much of anything worth looking for around here. Lets head on back to town before it gets dark." Hayner says as he and the others begin to walk out of the room. Naruto following them with a tired sigh, while wondering if he would ever figure out what a "Seeker of Darkness" was even supposed to do…

--

(Clock Tower…)

"Man, we didn't find anything." Hayner complains while sitting to the far side of the Tower, Pence, and Olette beside of him respectively, Naruto sitting beside of Olette. "Ah well, we can look for whatever you need to find tomorrow… and maybe get you some new threads as well." Hayner muses and Naruto blinks before looking down at his orange and black jumpsuit.

"What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?" He asks with a raised brow and Olette looks at him for a brief moment.

"Well… Orange just doesn't look right on you. Maybe Red instead." She offers casually and Naruto arches a brow before rolling his eyes and sighing. As he does Hayner reaches back to an old cooler they kept on the tower and pulled out some ice cream. He took one for himself then handed one over to Pence, who handed one to Olette, who then offered the last one to Naruto.

"Huh? What's this?" Naruto asks while taking the pale blue bar of icecream and Olette giggled lightly.

"It's sea-salt ice cream silly." She offers and Naruto scrunches his face up.

"Ice Cream? What's that?" He asks seriously and Olette gapes at him for a moment. Shaking her head Olette gives him another smile and then motions to the bar that was still in his hand.

"Just try it." She offers and Naruto frowns for a moment before shrugging and placing some of the ice cream into his mouth. His eyes bolting open as he tastes it, then takes a quick bite out of it. "Whoa! Watch it or you'll get a brain freeze!" Olette warns and Naruto grimaces while placing a hand onto his head. "Ugh… too late." She notes and Hayner and Pence both laugh in response. Chuckling lightly, the four soon sigh and happily look out over Twilight town for a moment, enjoying their ice cream…

"You know, something about this seems… almost familiar…" Naruto suddenly says while looking out over Twilight Town.

"Yeah, it's almost like we've done this before somewhere…" Hayner notes before holding his Ice cream forward towards the sun, Pence, Olette, and Naruto doing the same. "It's like… I've done this before, I've been here with you guys and Naruto… but the memories are just… gone." Hayner says and both Pence and Olette bring their Icecream back to their mouths, Naruto looking to his distantly…

"A scattered memory that's like a far off dream… a far off dream that's like a scattered memory…" Naruto whispers softly before closing his eyes, seeing a vision of a flaming red haired man and a black haired girl… "I want to line the pieces up… yours and mine." He finishes and Olette looks at him with a smile on her face.

"That was beautiful Naruto, where did you hear it?" She asks while thinking it sounded romantic and the two boys beside her gagged.

"I… just made it up…" Naruto admits softly, then brings his Ice cream back to his mouth and takes another bite. "This is really good." Naruto notes and the three teens beside him nod their heads. "Now… where am I going to be staying while I'm here?" Naruto then wonders while scratching his head and Hayner looks to Pence and Olette.

"What?" Pence questions of the blond and Hayner gives him and Olette a look.

"I can't take him in. Mom's still pissed about the puppy I tried to bring home." Hayner states then shivers with a grimace, Pence frowning.

"Well I can't. My dad and me don't have enough room to put him." Pence says and both boys look to Olette, her eye twitching before giving them both a cross look.

"Seriously? You guys expect me to take in a guy, a guy who's my age, with my dad in the know?" She asks and Naruto is silent, smiling around his ice cream and wondering if this is how normal friends act.

"Well you do have enough room…" Pence reminds and Hayner decides to add his own two scents.

"And your mom wouldn't mind…" He offers and Olette huffs before crossing her arms and looking to Naruto.

"Fine. But you need to understand a few rules." She states and Naruto blinks before nodding his head. "One, do not talk to my dad, he's the police chief around here and really nasty about me bringing boys home. Two, do not track mud in the house. Three, try not to leave your clothes lying around, my mom hates that." Olette says and Naruto blinks, Hayner and Pence snickering.

"Uh… sure. I guess I can deal with that…" Naruto offers with a shrug, wondering just what he'd gotten himself into…

--

TBC…

--


	6. The Chaser

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 5**_: _**The Chaser**_…

--

"Normal Speech…"

'_Normal Thoughts…'_

"**Demon Speech**…"

'_**Demon Thoughts**_…'

[_Seeker Speech_…]

--

(??)

Naruto found sleep restless as he tossed and turned, his dreams were odd sporadic images before he suddenly found himself in a long dark hallway. Pictures were to either side of the hall, and then suddenly the place seemed to change. The right side was now white, glowing torches of yellow flames beside each picture. The left side however was pitch black, torches glowing with blue flames apposing the light of the right. Blinking slightly before walking forward, Naruto looked to both sides and was shocked by what the first pictures showed…

On the right side, Naruto saw a baby; a woman with blond hair was holding him, while a man with brown hair having a hand on her shoulder as he looked down at the baby with a smile, the sun shining through a window to bask them in warmth. The opposite picture however depicted a baby left in the arms of an unmoving Yondaime Hokage, the land around him dark and torn by battle and conflict. _**"Two lives were decided on that day… one born in chaos and death… the other born to happiness and warmth…"**_ The voice echoed out and Naruto slowly walked to the next picture and was surprised by the right one.

On the right side, he saw a brown haired boy happily playing with his mother and father… while on the left he saw himself in the orphanage, cold and alone. _**"Darkness and Light are in constant balance. Without one the other could not exist."**_ A voice echoed while Naruto walked to the next picture in the row.

On the right, he saw the same brown haired kid, only now much older, and he was now with a silver haired kid and a red haired girl. The brown and silver haired boys were fighting with wooden swords while the girl watched with a smile… On the left Naruto saw himself Sakura and Sasuke, Sakura was yelling at him while Sasuke seemed to be ignoring. Wincing at the odd differences in the picture, one seemed to be nice, the other bad. _**"Darkness and Light. Hope and Despair. Love and Hate. Good and Evil. Friends and Enemies. All are counterparts to one another…"**_ That same voice echoed and Naruto walked forward to the next painting once more…

On the right Naruto saw the brown haired kid, older yet again, and was sitting hand in hand with the red haired girl, both smiling to one another. Dreading the next painting already, Naruto turned and winched when he saw how Sakura hit him after he had just come back to the village from his training trip. _**"For every soul born to the light, another soul is born to Darkness…"**_ The voice whispered and Naruto slowly nodded his head before walking to the final picture…

The right picture showed the brown haired kid falling into Darkness, only to suddenly reappear, a Keyblade in his hand, light seeming to flow off of him in waves… Looking to his own Naruto saw himself wielding his dual Keyblades before being consumed by Darkness, his armor appearing as dark flames seemed to rise from his body ominously. _**"These unfortunate souls, born to Darkness, are what is known as an Other. They are equal to, and yet still opposite of their counterpart. Like a Broken Mirror, or a Negative."**_ The voice suddenly explained while Naruto clenched his fists slightly his eyes darkening as his hair shadowed them.

"So I just got the bad luck of being born in Darkness…" He notes bitterly before shaking his head. He wouldn't fall too far into Darkness, he'd struggled, he'd fought, and he'd endured too much to let himself fall. Shaking his head and crossing his arms, Naruto walked forward and blinked when he found a doorway. "Great, now where am I going?" He has to wonder before sighing as he opens the door, his eyes widening as a bright light consumes his vision…

"_**Every Other is cursed to endure suffering, to know hardships, and to struggle through great pain."**_ The mysterious voice echoed out and Naruto slowly opened his eyes, finding himself within Twilight Town once more. _**"However, when a Warrior of Light loses memories to Darkness… and his Other comes into the world of light, those memories shall be absorbed by the Other."**_ The voice comments and Naruto frowns, wondering what that is supposed to mean. _**"But for now, young seeker of Darkness… your mission is clear…"**_ The voice then says and Naruto scowls deeply.

"Yeah… clear as mud. What am I supposed to do? Why am I in the world of light anyways?!" Naruto demands and then hears the voice whisper to him once more.

"_**You're so impatient… and you are NOT in the world of Light. Twilight Town resides on the Border of Light and Darkness. It is between both worlds. But someone is there… someone… who can help you on your mission. Find a way to revive them… that is your mission for now."**_ The voice explains cryptically as Naruto once more finds light suddenly blinding him, before the world seemed to be enveloped in static…

--

(Twilight Town…)

A pair of blue eyes slowly opened, Naruto looked around, and then slowly shifted to where he was sitting up, one arm placed over one leg… "What's happening to me…" He wondered and placed a hand onto his head, slowly getting up with a grimace he then stopped and walked into a bathroom. Shaking his head he looked at a mirror and noticed his hair, his bed head looked as if it was sweeping upwards at an odd angle, making the blond chuckle slightly before placing a hand to his head…

'_**No, you're the Other…'**_ The voice of the cloaked boy from his dream, or maybe it was his training, echoed out in his mind, making him frown. _'So. I'm supposed to be the "Other" to this Sora guy. One bathed in light, the other left drowning in darkness… seems like a real shitty way to exist.'_ Naruto muses to himself before shaking his head and looking at himself once more, yawning the blue-eyed blond forgets about messing with his hair as he stumbled back into the room Olette's parents let him stay in until he could somehow get a place for himself, then quickly got his clothes and pulled them on.

Walking out of the room, he sees Olette yawning as she walks out of her own room, having also only just woken up. "Morning…" Naruto offers and Olette looks at him sleepily for a moment only to snap her eyes open upon seeing him.

"Roxas?" She wonders, and then frowns as she thinks the name sounds odd… and yet it also felt familiar to say it at the same time.

"Who?" The other blond asks while scratching his head and Olette shakes her head for a moment and shrugs her shoulders.

"Sorry… I don't really know, the name just kind of came out." Olette admits and Naruto merely shrugs his shoulders before yawning.

"I've been called worse things." He notes while stretching his limbs and then cracks his neck while yawning before making his way downstairs. Following after him, Olette notices that his Keyblades have already been placed on his back. "You coming? Hayner and Pence are probably waiting on us at the Usual Place." Naruto notes and Olette looks at him strangely for a moment before shaking her head.

"R-right… let's hurry." Olette says with a nod and quickly makes her way down the stairs before Naruto opens the door and follows her out into the city. Walking through Twilight Town, Olette was confused beyond belief, wondering why she had called Naruto, Roxas… and for that matter, who WAS Roxas and why did it feel like she knew him somehow?

'_Is HE Roxas then? No… that wouldn't be possible, I only met him the other day… then again, why does it feel like I've known him longer?'_ She wonders to herself silently as they soon reach the Usual Place, Naruto yawning as he walks inside.

"Hey guys…" He offers casually while the Hayner and Pence both look to one another then him.

"What's with your hair?" Hayner asks and Naruto tilts his head, a vision of Roxas overlapping him in all their minds at the same time.

"What are you talking about, Hayner? What's wrong with my hair?" He asks while placing a hand to his head and Olette, feeling somewhat disturbed by the visions walks over to him and smoothes down his hair into the style it was the day before.

"There, much better." She says and Naruto blinks before shrugging, the vision of Roxas fading once more. "Now we just need to get you some new clothes." Olette comments and Hayner nods his head in agreement.

"But we don't have any money for new clothes." Pence reminded the others and Naruto crosses his arms.

"We can just go out and find a few odd jobs for some quick change can't we?" He asks and Hayner looks at him before ignoring the eerie feeling in his gut.

"How did you know that?" Olette asks while looking at him with obvious confusion and Naruto is silent for a few moments.

"That's what I'd do for money back home…" Naruto admits with a shrug of his shoulders and Hayner, Pence and Olette look to one another before shrugging their shoulders, it sounded like something that could happen after all…

"Alright, lets move out, and remember, the more money you get Naruto, the nicer the duds. Me, Pence, and Olette will get about… well… we'll get as much Munnies together as we can but you have to pay for the bulk of it man." Hayner offers and Naruto nods his head in agreement. With that the gang all quickly filed out of the room, Naruto sighing as he ran out after them, turning he then headed for the Job's board and slid to a halt to look it over.

"Alright… what to do…" Naruto wondered quietly before smirking as he saw a simple looking one, someone needed some letters delivered. Looking it over he then asked around for who it was that needed the letters delivered, upon reaching the woman she explained what she needed done and gave him a map of where to go. Nodding his head Naruto ran off, rushing across the village with surprising speed considering he had no Chakra to help him.

'_Jeez… and Currier Nin get paid to do THIS? What a rip, I could do this twice as fast as they do and without the lip!'_ Naruto thinks to himself while easily completing the job, the woman handing him a bag of Munnies once he returns to her. Going back to the board, Naruto stopped when he saw something familiar… a folded piece of yellow parchment with a broken mirror sketched on it, this time however it also had a rose twisted beneath it. Looking around to see if anyone was watching the blond then reached out and took the object before opening it and reading a new poem…

"_Mange-ridden to the core, he leads me through the fray. With the toss of a Jackbomb, I clear abominations from our way."_ This note read in the same cursive and beautiful calligraphy as the last, before the blond turned his eyes to the scratchy black writing of another, this other message more cryptic and sinister yet again… _**"Only a few find the way; some don't recognize it when they do; some never want to."**_ The cryptic scrawl read and Naruto shuddered for a moment before stowing the odd little note into his pocket with the first note from the old Library.

Looking back at the board Naruto then takes the next job, which is to move a cart up a steep hill quickly. Cracking his neck and rushing to where he could see the cart, Naruto took the job and rolled the sleeves of his jacket up. Getting behind the cart Naruto breathed out before moving forward and pushing the cart upwards, gritting his teeth as he pushed with all his strength causing the massive Cart to slowly roll up the hill where he then grunted as he pushed it into the garage. Finished with that, he got his pay then went and grabbed the last job on the wall and blinked.

'_Entertainment? Well… at least it better pay well…'_ Naruto thinks and then heads down to the woman he'd need to talk to about the job. Taking the job he learned all he'd need to do was keep a ball in the air for a length of time, the longer he did the better the pay would be. _'Honestly, this is so much easier than trying to get some ryou back home…'_ Naruto notes while taking his Keyblades from his back and then lunging at the ball, slicing upwards he knocks it into the air, and then jumps up into a string of combos sending it flying high. Landing Naruto balances the ball on the end of one of his blades, people cheering for him as he then hits it back up into the air and follows after it once more…

--

(Radiant Garden…)

King Mickey slowly made his way down the long steps on his way downwards. "Who knew that this place was even here…?" Goofy commented and Mickey shook his head, as obviously Xehanort had known and something about it had set him down his path to Darkness, one that had eventually destroyed him…

"Who cares, lets just get to the bottom of dis place so we can get back home." Donald grumbles and Mickey chuckles, it was nice to be traveling with them again. It'd been so long since he'd done so after all… since he'd fought with his friends rather than with Riku, Sora, or even any of the other warriors he'd met in the Realm of Darkness. Not to say he didn't like any of them, but traveling with Donald and Goofy was… well… he couldn't quite place it, but at least they kept things interesting.

"I don't know Donald, this place isn't like any of the places we went to with Sora. It feels creepier…" Goofy notes and Mickey nods his head in agreement with his Captain of the Guard, Donald scoffing.

"I think that we've seen a bunch of creepier places dan dis, Goofy." Donald comments with his arms crossed while they soon come to a white Door, Mickey pointing his keyblade at it to open it.

"That sure is convenient, huh." Goofy notes and Mickey smiles before walking into the new area, he, Goofy and Donald stopping just within the threshold…

"Uh… Goofy…" Donald suddenly squawked and the Dog / man / thing turned his head downwards to look at him. "Dis place really IS creepier dan de others…" He notes and Goofy nods his head, Mickey shuddering. They are looking down a long hallway, everything around them seemingly white and sterile, giving the hall an almost asylum like quality, doors to either side of them with barred windows and chains holding them shut, pads beside of them built for codes and a final door at the very end of the hall.

"C'mon fellas, we should hurry and get this over with." Mickey reminds and Donald and Goofy both gulp while following the King down the hall.

"Gawrsh, I wonder what's in these here cells?" Goofy wonders while scratching his head and Donald Shudders.

"I don't know and I don't WANT to know!" He comments and King Mickey silently agrees with his Royal Mage while stopping before the final door.

"Is this the right one your majesty?" Goofy asks and Mickey nods his head before using his Keyblade to open this door as well. Walking inside, Mickey sees a throne before him; black chains painted down the sides of the round room and oddly curved angles. "Weird… what do you think this here place is for?" Goofy wonders while scratching his head, Mickey's eyes widening as he runs around the throne.

"Your majesty!" Donald calls out while following after him, then stops when he sees Mickey on his knees, looking over a strange suit of blue and violet armor that lay in pieces on the ground before the throne, with an oddly shaped Keyblade sticking out of the ground near it…

"Aqua…" Mickey whispers while reaching out a hand to the helmet… As he did however, he quickly took a step back when a keyblade near the armor moved, nearly taking his head off. "What the?" Mickey wondered while summoning his own Key, Donald and Goofy gaping as the armor started to twist, swirling upwards until the boots landed on the ground, the armor then formed upwards… soon completing itself to show what appeared to be a knight of some kind, wearing feminine shaped black, silver, and violet armor, her helmet bearing an odd silver design with black glass, and her oddly shaped keyblade suddenly slipping into one of her hands.

"Uhh… it kinda looks like that there… uh… Lingering-Sentiment thing we fought wit Sora in the Castle." Goofy notes visibly shaking while holding his shield up, Donald narrowing his eyes on the armor that had somehow seemingly come to life. The "Lingering-Sentiment" they had fought in the odd Crossroads had been a warrior of unrivaled strength and power, his armor supper charged the keyblade, and made him a fierce opponent, however, it appeared to them as if his memories had been fragmented when they had fought him…

"Aqua… Aqua is that you?" Mickey asks the armor, only for it to turn its head towards him, seemingly looking at his key for some odd reason.

"_**Darkness… all around me… darkness…"**_ A voice echoed in their minds, Goofy and Donald readying their weapons as Mickey crouched down into a stance. _**"This power… so familiar… and yet… no… you are not the one… not the one I have chosen…"**_ The voice echoed and Donald and Goffy both gulped at its words… _**"Ventus… Terra… where… where are you…"**_ The voice echoed as the armor lurched forward, Mickey stepping back as violet energy suddenly surrounded the armor. _**"Xe… ha… ort… Xehanort… Xehanort! What have you done with them!?"**_ The voice demanded angrily before the armor suddenly lunged forward, swinging its oddly designed keyblade wildly…

--

(Twilight Town…)

Naruto wiped some sweat from his brow as he finished the last of the odd jobs he could find. This one had been exterminating some Bee's, before that smashing some trash, and before that he'd put up some posters for some weird guy. Smiling the blond just looked at his sizable amount of Money for a moment. "Ah, nothing like a day of good old fashioned hard work… nah, more like the money." Naruto notes with a smile before turning on his heel and making his way towards where he last saw Olette. Walking through town, he spotted the rest of the group and rushed over to them.

"Hey Naruto, how did you do?" Pence asks of the blond and Naruto shows him the bag of money he'd earned.

"Whoa, nice work there buddy. C'mon lets get you some new threads and then head out for some ice-cream." Hayner says while taking the bag and tossing it into the air for a moment, only for Olette to reach out and grab it with a frown.

"Hayner, no tossing money around like that, there's no telling who'd try to steal it." Olette chastises the blond, making him snort before crossing his arms, Naruto merely crossing his arms behind his head with an amused smirk.

"Whatever, Olette lets just get going okay? I'd like to get this over with before the day ends." Hayner notes and Naruto nods his head in agreement with the other blond teen. Huffing, Olette walks over to a clothes shop, Naruto and the other boys in tow. Entering the shop, Naruto walks around, checking a few things out before taking them from the shelves of clothing. Soon finished with the few things he wanted, he walked over to the clerk and placed his purchases down.

"Hmm, that'll be… 1,000 munnies." The woman offered and Naruto nearly grimaced before Olette pulled the mentioned amount from the sack, then smiled when she noted they had some extra.

"Do you have a changing room or something around here?" Naruto asks the woman and she points over to a room, Naruto thanking her as he makes his way over to the room.

"So how much extra do we have?" Hayner quickly questions of his only female friend and Olette smiles towards him.

"Just enough for some Sea-Salt-Ice-cream for the four of us." She replies and Pence grins with his two friends, all of whom enjoyed the tasty treat greatly. However, a second later, Pence frowned and looked at his two friends with a raised brow.

"Hey, most of that WAS Naruto's munnie, why don't we let him have it?" Pence asks the two and Olette looks to Hayner who crosses his arms.

"Because we ALSO contributed, and the clothes were all for Naruto, so we're buying the ice-cream with what's left because it's mostly ours and we're getting some ice-cream for him too…" Hayner explains and Pence thinks about it for a moment before nodding his head, he could understand that after all.

At that, Naruto finally came out of the dressing room, the gang looking at him in surprise, his style seeming to have had a drastic change from what he had been wearing before. First was a pair of bicep length fingerless black gloves with metal plates over the backs of his fists, his Spellbinders were present over his wrists, forearms, and biceps, a sleeveless black shirt covered his torso, the collar coming up high on his neck but was unzipped down to his collarbone, allowing the necklace he'd gained from Tsunade to hang down to his chest.

Around his waist is a black belt, black straps reaching from the front of it and the back of it before attaching to a pair of red pouches at the sides of his hips, red pants were over his legs with two black leather straps wrapped over his right thigh, a red pouch attached to them, black straps were placed over his knees as well, these forming into X shapes, while the ends of his pants were tucked into his familiar black leather calf high Shinobi Sandals.

"Well. What do you guys think?" Naruto asked the three curiously while looking himself over, flexing his hands in his new gloves for a moment before crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk, his twin Keyblades both placed onto his back.

"Nice. Much better than all that bright orange you had on before." Hayner comments with a nod of his head while Olette gave him a look in response.

"Hayner, I actually like Orange, the only reason he needed new clothes was because Orange just didn't look right on him. Not to mention that his old outfit looked more that a little old and filthy, not to mention filled with holes." Olette reminded and Hayner grumbled about never being able to please the bossy girl under his breath. Chuckling slightly, Pence turned to see a confused Naruto, thus shrugged.

"Lets just say you look great and leave it at that Naruto." Pence offers and Naruto actually nods his head in agreement. "C'mon, lets go get some Sea-Salt Ice-Cream already, just thinking about its making my mouth water!" Pence then says and Naruto nods his head with a grin, Hayner and Olette smiling as they walk out of the shop, heading off to get some ice-cream. As they did, Naruto suddenly stopped, then looked around, his eyes narrowing dangerously…

"Hey Naruto, what's the hold up?" Hayner suddenly asks while turning around, then follows Naruto's line of sight and takes a cautious step back when he sees someone in an all black leather cloak…

"Is that one of those "Organization XIII" guys Sora told us about?" Olette wondered while the cloaked figure walked towards Naruto, ignoring them completely as the blond glared at him.

"Ah, so we meet again young Naruto." The man muses and Naruto quickly pulls his Keyblades from his back, teeth gnashed into a snarl.

"What are YOU doing here? What do you want?" Naruto demands and the man soon stopped before him, arms crossed behind his back.

"Why… I just came to see you of course." The man states simply with a small shrug, Naruto frowns towards him in response.

"Pardon me if I find that very hard to believe!" Naruto growls out and the man merely tilted his head to one side before then crossing his arms behind his slouched form.

"Yes. I figured as much…" He muses in that same elderly tone, before suddenly snapping his fingers, several Dusks appearing around him. "The truth is… I wanted to see how far along you've come…" The man intoned ominously, suddenly backing up into a Dark Corridor, and then appearing behind Olette, Hayner and Pence. "So if you value their lives… catch me if you can…" The man offers monotonously, Naruto gritting his teeth as the four vanish into a Dark Corridor.

"Dammit!" Naruto growls out while looking around at the Dusks around him, hearing screams as people ran, Naruto doubted summoning Heartless into a populated area like this would be a good idea… _'Oh well, just have to deal with them the old fashioned way then…'_ Naruto muses as he lunges into the Dusks, swinging his two Keyblades he slices through two of them before flipping over another and taking its head off. Looking around, Naruto then swings his keyblades, throwing them from his hands at the next two dusks before running forward, catching the blades as he saw a Dark-Corridor open in the distance, right on the Clock Tower.

'_I won't let this psycho hurt them!'_ Naruto inwardly growls, eyes flaring a bright golden yellow as he runs towards the man, swinging his Keyblades to rid himself of a few more Nobodies along the way. Coming to a stop in a large clearing before the Tower, Naruto looks up and sees the man standing atop the Tower with a relaxed posture. Hayner, Pence, and Olette however are all held by some kind of field. "Let them go right now!" Naruto orders while pointing Dark-Heart towards the cloaked figure, making him chuckle lightly.

"I will if you pass my… little… test." The man muses cryptically and before Naruto can comment, then ground around him started to shake, making him fall to one knee in order to brace himself. Looking up, Naruto's eyes suddenly widened when a massive creature appeared…

Much like the other Nobodies, its body was covered in a white jumpsuit, a zipper up the front, but its hood was held tightly to its body with slits at its hips and over the sides of its waist, also the massive being was just as tall, if not taller, than that of a Dark-Side Heartless, its shoulders were jaggedly curved spikes with spikes for feet and jagged spikes for thumbs, around its neck, Naruto saw a long blue scarf with four long tassels ending in jagged spikes, the Nobody Crest over its face… (Nobody: Twilight Thorn)

"The Twilight Thorn… most powerful of the basic Nobodies… only one with a powerful heart can become one…" Naruto mumbled in a daze before quickly shaking his head as the TT suddenly came down to the ground while towering over him. "Oh shit…" Naruto mumbled to himself while crouching into a stance before the absolutely massive looking being.

"Now then, show me your strength! Show me the power you hold locked within your heart!" The old man calls out, his arms outstretched as Naruto is suddenly pulled into the air, lightning formed over his arms and legs. Eyes wide the boy looks up to see the Thorn coming at him, gritting his teeth Naruto manages to bend his body to avoid an attack and throws his keyblade, nailing the Thorn's head. The energy holding Naruto quickly faded, thus the blond used his Dark-Soldier key in order to stay afloat.

Flying through the air, much to the shock of his new friends, Naruto dodged as the Thorn came at him, then spun in the air, slashing with Dark-Heart, nailing the thorns head once more and making it back off. Standing on his key and glaring at the thorn he watched as it shimmered and twisted visibly into the air, suddenly forming a massive ball of lightning above its head. Gritting his teeth, Naruto flies on Dark-Soldier, heading towards the Nobodie when it suddenly tosses the ball of lightning down at him.

'_If that thing hits, the concussive force alone might kill anyone around here!'_ The blond thinks in shock before rearing his arm back and flinging Dark-Heart upwards, the weapon slamming into the ball of lightning, causing it to detonate and both Naruto and the Thorn to fall from the force of the blast. Landing with a grunt, Dark-Heart reappeared in Naruto's hand as he got up then kicked Dark-Soldier into his hand and lunged at the Twilight-Thorn with a roar. Seeing the thorn laying down injured, the blond haired boy swung his blades into its downward head, slamming into its head with wild abandon before being knocked back by one of its scarf's stray tassels.

Landing in a crouch with a grunt, Naruto watches on as the Thorn gets back to its feet, and then reels it's left arm back before cartwheeling in place, it's arm whipping across the ground towards him. Cursing loudly, the blond ducks out of the way while the Nobody then rights itself. The strange beast then seems to "Swim", for lack of a better word, through the air and over to the far side of their arena. It's arms flail for a moment, dark energy coursing over them as several Creeper Nobodies appear, causing Naruto to grunt in annoyance.

"Why me…" He mutters to himself before lunging forward, dodging around the Thorn's outstretched arms and slicing through the Creepers easily. Landing in a crouch as the Thorn rights itself once more, Naruto glares up at the creature darkly. "Alright… THAT'S it! No more mister nice guy!" Naruto growls out as a Dark Pool opens under him, tendrils of dark energy wrapping around his body…

"Yes… show me your true power…" The man in the cloak whispers softly before then folding his arms behind his back, Naruto oblivious to the man finishing his transformation as he stands in his red and black Seeker Armor.

_[All right freak! Now you face my true Darkness!]_ Naruto hisses out angrily as the Thorn floats up into the air, tendrils of black energy coming down towards the blond. Growling, Naruto rides the odd energy upwards, towards its head and lashes out once more, causing it to shift and shudder violently before his arms and legs where grasped by a familiar energy. Roaring in outrage, Naruto looked towards the Thorn as it came at him, swinging its arms at him. Dodging that Naruto then struggled with his bonds before throwing his Dark-Heart key at the Thorn, nailing it in its very battered head.

Growling in anger, the Thorn flew into the air, as Naruto flew on Dark-Soldier once more. This time, Naruto flew after the Thorn and into the air at a startling speed. Spotting the beast forming another ball of lightning Naruto hopped off of Dark-Soldier and threw both it and Dark-Heart towards the Twilight Thorn. The two keyblades sung through the air as the Thorn threw its ball of lightning, Dark-Heart easily detonating it as Dark-Soldier escaped the explosion and nailed the thorn in the head.

As it did, the Thorn began to glow a bright white color while it fell to the ground, Naruto falling as well, called Dark-Heart and Soldier back to his outstretched hands. Catching them as he fell he watched as the Thorn vanished into millions of specks of light, before the blond haired Seeker slammed into the ground. Groaning in pain, Naruto used Dark-Heart to push himself to his feet, then panted while glaring up towards the black-cloaked man. However, the blond was shocked into inaction as the man suddenly started clapping his hands at a sedate pace.

"Excellent. Excellent. A truly stunning performance." The man confides while clapping his hands, Naruto gritting his teeth as he did so. Quickly opening a Dark-Corridor Naruto lunged into it and came out above the man, swinging his twin Keyblades down at him. However, he was shocked when the man somehow lazily caught the weapons in his hands by their blades. "Honestly now, there's no need for that." He commented before tossing Naruto back down towards the ground.

Gritting his teeth Naruto placed his feet against the tower and ran down its length, a hoard of Dusks appearing at the bottom of the Tower. Roaring, Naruto ran down the length of the tower, throwing Dark-Soldier downwards and into a Dusk before flipping off the tower and coming down on the next one in a downward slash, rending it in half. Twirling his two Keyblades in hand while looking around Naruto quickly deals with the last of the Dusks then looks up, only to see the old man is gone…

"As I said before. A truly stunning performance, you are proving yourself to be everything that I had ever hoped for." The black-cloaked man comments, Naruto spinning around to face the odd man with shock. _'Dammit, how do I beat this guy, he's able to block my blades like they were nothing and sneak up on me like I was still in the academy!'_ Naruto mentally seethes while the man suddenly snaps his fingers, Hayner, Pence, and Olette instantly being freed of the energy holding them.

"As I said, you can have them back." The man muses and Naruto frowns, then falls to one knee as his armor fades, making him pant slowly while glaring towards the black-cloaked man. "However, I do believe that a gift is in order for your exertion…" The man muses before pulling a box out of a Dark-Corridor. "Here…" He offers casually before throwing the simple box over to Naruto. Catching it quickly, Naruto looks from it to the man suspiciously.

"How do I know it's not something dangerous?" Naruto demands while standing up and the black-cloaked man chuckles in response.

"If I wanted you gone, you'd be gone already…" The man intones darkly and Naruto frowns, then throws the top of the box off and raises a brow. Within the box is a coat, and upon pulling it out, Naruto finds that the coat ends a little lower than his knees, it has the same basic design as the cloak the man wears, having a hood, a chain at the collar with two pull strings, and was mostly black in color, however the sleeves of the cloak are cut to end at his biceps with silver heart shaped shoulder armor over each shoulder with red straps around his arms and back…

"A… a coat?" Naruto questions of the old man with an arched brow and the said old man merely chuckles in response.

"Not exactly… you see the "Dark-Cloak" I wear is worn by all or at least most users of Darkness. It prevents the Darkness from completely consuming us when we travel through Dark-Corridors. That is a modified version of the normal Dark cloak, taking form based on who you are…" The man offers in explanation and Naruto slowly pulls the cloak on, leaving it unzipped down the front. "Oh yes… and I believe you may want this as well…" The man muses, moving so quickly he seemed as if he was a blur, taking hold of Naruto's right hand and slipping something into it…

"We'll be in touch…" The man then offered ominously, before backing up into a Dark-Corridor, Naruto blinking before looking down to his hand. Opening it, he found an oddly shaped pink-yellow seashell… his eyes widening slowly as he fell to his knees, his head wracked with a stabbing pain. At the back of his mind he heard Hayner call out his name before blacking out…

--

(Radiant Garden…)

King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all quickly ducked out of the way of the armor that seemed to move on its own. Panting Donald and Goofy were reminded of Lingering-Sentiment by the armor more and more, it's power disturbing. "We… we have to leave! We have to get out of this room now!" Mickey says in a pant and Donald nods his head, wide eyed and frightened beyond belief.

"B-b-but won't it just follow us?" Goofy questions and then decides it's not really important, the Keyblade wielding armor did have the advantage in such a small space, it's odd magical attacks were very wide, limiting their room to maneuver. Running out of the room, Mickey and Donald quickly follow after him, jumping passed the threshold of the door and then turning to see the armor didn't follow. Instead, it seemed to shatter, pieces of armor falling to the ground in another pile while the Keyblade it had wielded suddenly pulsed with energy.

"What da heck was dat ting?" Donald suddenly questioned with panting breaths and Mickey frowned.

"A Forgotten-Longing. Aqua's keyblade must have absorbed her emotions before she… passed on… now they're all that's left of her." The King whispered while also naming the being within the Room of Sleep while Goofy wiped his brow.

"We'd need both Sora an Riku ta deal with that there thang." He notes and Mickey nods his head with a frown on his face. Sora and Riku were an amazing team, after all they had defeated Xemnas, and compared to him the Forgotten-Longing shouldn't be THAT tough… right?

"But, WE barely beat that Lingering-Sentiment thing even WITH Sora with us Goofy!" Donald reminds and King Mickey nods his head with a frown on his face.

"Right. But not if I help them, the three of us combined should be more than enough to deal with it and figure out what's going on around here." Mickey states and both Donald and Goofy wonder about that for a moment before deciding that the King knew best. "C'mon fella's, we should go and find Sora, Kairi, and Riku before they move off that last world they were on." Mickey states and both Donald and Goofy nod their heads, happy that they can visit their friend, though wishing it was for something besides asking for help…

--

TBC…

--

AN: I left clues to the first "Crossover" in the last few chapters; I want to see if anyone noticed them…


	7. Through the Looking Glass

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

**_NU_**: **_Birth of the Seekers_**…

_**Chapter 6**_: _**Through the Looking Glass**_…

--

"Normal Speech…"

'_Normal Thoughts_…'

"**Demon Speech**…"

'**_Demon Thoughts_**…'

[_Seeker Speech_…]

--

(Twilight Town…)

Slowly opening his eyes once more, Naruto reaches up to his head before sitting up and grimacing slightly. "My head…" He mutters before he remembers about Xion, and what she is… _'Why does it seem like I pass out a lot recently?'_ Naruto wonders to himself with a thin frown across his lips before standing up and making his way to his clothes, pulling those on he stops when he sees the Dark Cloak from before…

"Well… might as well wear it…" Naruto muses quietly before shrugging his shoulders and pulls on the cloak. Much like he suspected, the cloak's sleeves ended just below his biceps, obscuring his upper most Spellbinders, the shoulder armor over it was made of a thick white leather with red leather straps formed into it to hold them on. Placing his Keyblades onto his back, the blond then checked inside the coat and blinked when he found a piece of paper in an inner coat pocket… the yellowed paper being easy enough to identify since he had two more of them…

"Do I dare read this one?" He wonders before sighing and pulling the paper out, this one holding a Shattered Mirror on the front, a twisted rose beneath it, and a Pawn from chess laying on it's side. Licking his lips as he opens the note he finds yet another poem within, written in a beautiful scrawl.

"_If its my keen invention you'd like to destroy, I'll withstand your best shot; I've got the right toy."_ The poem read and Naruto frowned for a moment before looking down to the second note and shivered at the jagged black scrawl… _**"'Seek and ye shall find', they say, but they don't say what you'll find."**_ The cryptic message read and Naruto had to wonder what these odd little notes were supposed to be telling him. Stuffing the note into his coat and replacing his other two into it as well the blond went about finishing with the rest of his morning rituals. Finished with that, Naruto walks out of his temporary room and then heads outside to find his friends at the Usual Place.

Looking around he sees it's early morning, the bright red sky above making him breathe in a sigh. _'Its days like these when I almost miss Konoha… almost…_' Naruto muses to himself silently before making his way towards the Usual Place, seeing as Hayner, Pence, and Olette might know of some way that he could reach other worlds after all. Walking into the usual place, Naruto was suddenly bombarded with questions from the three, making him rub his temples, as they grew progressively louder with each passing question.

Finally tired of the noise Naruto placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, startling the three out of their mass questionnaire. "Alright guys, I'll answer some questions already… just please one at a time." Naruto grumbles while rubbing his head and Olette is the first to get a question out this time.

"Who was that man yesterday?" She asks and Naruto shrugs his shoulders.

"Some old-dude… not sure whose side he's on really… just know he likes to talk by leaving cryptic messages and has no real sense of humor." Naruto offers flatly and Olette frowns while Hayner takes over.

"Then what about that wicked armor, where did you get that?" He asks excitedly and Naruto rolls his eyes in response.

"It's a part of my powers." He replies and Hayner blinks and then huffs.

"Alright, then what about these powers of yours where did you get them?" Pence asks the blond and Naruto scratches his head in response.

"Um… my powers kind of come from these things…" Naruto says while holding his arms out and then tapping on his Spellbinders. "They give me different abilities, thus far I've only got two activated, not too sure how I activate the other four though." Naruto offers then admits and Pence blinks before slowly nodding his head.

"What about when you summoned those little black things from before, what were those?" Olette questions and Naruto scratches the back of his neck for a moment.

"Uh… it's actually kind of hard to explain that…" The blond boy lied, seeing as explaining how he had the ability to summon and control beings of darkness that ate hearts wasn't on tops of his list of things to do. Shaking his head afterwards the blond then crossed his arms and took a thoughtful expression. "Anyways, I'd rather stop explaining my powers, I barely know how they work myself so can we please move onto something else?" The blond asks and Hayner places a hand over Olette's mouth when she's about to argue with the blond.

"C'mon, lets head over to Sunset Terrace and check out something around there. I've been hearing about something weird things happening with that Mirror behind the waterfall over there recently." Hayner offers to his friends, Naruto blinking before raising a brow in interest, wondering if it had something to do with those notes he'd been finding so often recently.

"What kind of things?" The blond asks and Hayner shrugs.

"It broke, and afterwards people started to see a weird girl in a blue dress through it instead of their own reflection." The other blond offered and Naruto frowned in thought before nodding his head.

"Alright, lets go check it out then." Naruto says before blinking. "How do we get to Sunset Terrace?" He asks sheepishly and Hayner smirks.

"Take a train from Central Station of course." He replies before the group makes their way from the Usual Place and head off to Central Station. The path to the station didn't seem any different than normal, however, as he walked Naruto noticed something felt odd. Soon coming to a stop in front of the station he looked around, only for Hayner to sigh and rub his face. "Alright Naruto, what is it this time?" Hayner asks and Naruto narrows his eyes when he spots an odd-looking black and purple swirling mass with a key shape inside it somehow hovering in the air.

"That." Naruto replies while pointing to the object and Hayner raises a brow upon seeing the sphere.

"Okay, what the hell is that then?" Hayner questions and Naruto holds his left hand towards the sphere, the Spellbinder of Knowledge glowing brightly.

"An Absent Silhouette, created from powerful memories that have lost substance in the worlds…" Naruto droned out and then shook his head and looked to see his friends had odd expression on their faces. "This thing tells me stuff…" Naruto explains while holding the arm with the Spellbinder up and Hayner looks to his friends and they shrug.

"So, what do we do about that thing?" Olette wonders while looking towards the sphere and Naruto frowns.

"Everyone back up, I'll see if I can do something about it…" Naruto states and Hayner, Pence, and Olette don't need to be told twice as they all hurry to watch from the safety of the station. Licking his lips as he approaches the odd AS, Naruto placed a hand on it and a brilliant flash of light sent him flying back. Cursing and flipping in midair the boy righted himself and then looked up to find the Absent Silhouette had taken form. It was in the shape of a girl, at least body wise, with high-heeled black boots with silver trim, black Hakama-esque pants, black leather gloves, and a "Dark-Cloak" like his own or the old man, the hood up to shadow her head and face.

Holding her hand to one side, a keyblade suddenly appeared in her hand, this one having a semi-short silver rounded blade with the teeth formed into an inverted crown shape, a yellow guard in a square shape, a blue leather bound handle, and a short keychain reaching off of it into a tri-circle symbol. (Kingdom Key…)

"What the hell?" Naruto wondered with a raised brow only to curse as the girl came running at him, swinging the blade of the weapon at him. Quickly rolling back to evade the attack Naruto pulled his own keyblades from his back and held them at his sides while staring at the Absent Silhouette. Getting into a low stance the blond narrowed his eyes as the AS came running at him, swinging it's single weapon he quickly blocked the attack before shifting his weight and sending her flying back. Lunging forward the blond swung his blades at the girl, however she was able to easily evade them.

'_Fast little minx, but lets see how strong you are…'_ Naruto thinks to himself as he jumps into the air and brings both keyblades down on the girl, her blocking with her singular weapon. Smirking as he pushes her down to one knee he's surprised when she suddenly twists downwards and kicks his feet out from under him. Not wasting even a moment she swung her keyblade down at his head, the blond cursing as he quickly evaded and landed in a crouch. However he felt his eyes widen in shock as pure light suddenly burned the ground where her blade touched it…

'_A true wielder of Light? Well now, this is really starting to get interesting!'_ Naruto thinks as a wide grin splits his face, his eyes turning bright amber as he lunges forward with a roar. Slamming his keys into the girls now he pushed her back before twisting on his heel and sending her flying into the air. Jumping upwards he swung his blades into arcs, the girl blocking each one before flipping in midair to recover and brought her keyblade down on him slamming him back into the ground. Growling the boy threw her off of himself and rolled into a kneeling position when a Spellbinder suddenly started to glow…

This one was black, with a blue aura swirling around and into it like a dark pool, it was located on his left forearm and a voice suddenly called into his mind. _**"You have awakened the Spellbinder of Shadow Combat, with it you can utilize your "Dark Aura" and call upon the Shadows around you to aid you in battle…"**_ The voice explained and Naruto frowned before concentrating on the binder and felt pure energy enters into him. Shuddering at the feel a grin slid across his features as he lunged for the girl. His body seeming to blur he slammed a fist into the girls stomach sending her flying back.

"Alright then, show me what you've got Hime!" Naruto mocks with a grin and the girl pushes herself back to her feet before lunging forward once more. Smirking the blond stomps on the ground, shadows arching up like needles. Gasping softly, the girl quickly evaded the needles, running around to evade them Naruto then lunged at her, slamming into her side before grabbing her by the ankle, twisting on his heel and throwing her to the side. The girl skidded along the ground for a moment before flipping onto her feet and held her weapon towards him, a burst of fire flying from the tip of her keyblade and heading straight for the young Seeker.

Tilting his head and giving a slight chuckle, the boy opened a dark corridor and vanished. Evading the fireball he appeared above her and brought both his blades down on her once more. Catching one another's blades Naruto then opened another dark corridor and backed into it, suddenly appearing behind her after he did he slashed her along the back, knocking her forward. Twirling his keyblades in hand the blond watched as the girl struggled to get to her feet and scoffed.

"C'mon, is that the best you got?" He mocked with obvious amusement as the girl got onto shaky legs while facing off against him. "Man, this isn't any fun, beating on a girl this weak feels… wrong… eh, I'll get over it." Naruto notes while shaking his head, then spun Dark-Soldier and sheathed it onto his back, now holding Dark-Heart's handle with both hands. "There we go, a little handicap for the weakling aught a help you out." Naruto says arrogantly and can FEEL the rage pouring off of the girl as she rushes towards him, crying out as she swings her blade.

Blocking with his one blade, Naruto then rears a hand back, shadows arching along it before he lashes out with a shadow encased hand, slicing through the girl's chest and sending her falling back. Blinking in surprise, Naruto looks to his left hand and then chuckles when he sees it now appears to be solid black, his fingers having formed into sharp talons like a Heartless. "Oh this just keeps getting better and better." Naruto notes then looks to the girl as she places a hand to her chest, obviously in a great deal of pain.

"Well, well well… looks like someone's out of the game." Naruto notes while sheathing Dark Heart now, then snaps his fingers, dispelling his Dark Aura. His eye returning to their original azure blue Naruto walks over to the Absent Silhouette and crouches down over it with a smirk. "So, what do I do with you now?" Naruto wonders while looking down at the girl, and then frowns when he sees her face through the shadows of her hood. Reaching out, he takes hold of the edge of her hood, but her hand grabs him by the wrist.

"Jeez, just wanna take a little peek." Naruto grumbles while removing her hand with his own then pushing her hood back… however he quickly stood up once he had and looked at her in confusion. The girl was at the MOST his age, with her short black hair formed into numerous downward spikes, her eyes were a familiar bright azure blue, but her skin was very pale…

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto demanded while looking at her, her face reminding him of the red head he'd seen with Sora in one of his earlier dreams.

"Xion…" The girl whispered and something started to glow in Naruto's jacket. Reaching inside he pulled out the seashell from before then watched it hover into the air above the fallen Absent Silhouette. The girl then mumbled something under her breath before turning into a dim light and shooting into the seashell, an object falling to the ground once she had.

Humming and kneeling down, Naruto reached out and took the object, only to raise a brow upon seeing an oddly decorated charm. The charm started off with an upside down Nobody Crest, with a stylized X behind it making it almost star like, a chain from the top of the charm seemed to greatly resemble the Pull strings from a Dark Cloak, and last it seemed to have a jewel embedded in the center that was blue with a black slit like an eye. (Last Wish…)

"What the hell?" Naruto wondered while looking down at the charm and then flung it into the air before catching it. Looking at it a second more he suddenly grimaced and placed a hand to his head as he felt a static sound enter his brain… Gritting his teeth, the blond then saw a memory, a flash of a crimson haired man standing with his back to a tree, a blond haired boy like him sitting on the tree with the girl next to him. Bringing both his hands to his head, Naruto then fell to his knees as the memories continued to flow into his mind.

Gritting his teeth the blond saw flashes of memories before spotting the three from the prior memory. Names came to him as he saw them, the blond, Roxas, the red head, Axel, and the girl, Xion. They were sitting on the clock tower, eating sea salt ice cream like he had with Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Panting as the vision faded Naruto rose back to his feet and groaned lightly while placing a hand to his head. "Hey, you alright Naruto? Not going to pass out on us are you?" Hayner suddenly questioned from behind and the blond shook his head with a smirk.

"No not this time, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this information overload." Naruto muses while rubbing his temples, then shakes his head as he sees the trio looking at him worriedly. "Well, c'mon, are we heading for Sunset Terrace or what?" Naruto asks the three while crossing his arms and Hayner nods his head before turning and walking to the station, Pence and Olette following him. Watching them go, Naruto briefly looked up at the clock tower and narrowed his eyes. "So… whose memories were those?" He wondered before following after the three friends…

--

(??)

A familiar old man in a long black cloak makes his way towards a group of three. Within the group were two boys and a girl. His, familiar amber gold peered out from the depths of his hood for but a moment before the shadows returned. Walking forward with confidant steps, arms crossed behind his back he appeared as if a bent, fragile old man. However, this could not be further from the truth, a smirk made its to his lips as he then snapped his fingers to draw his prey's attention. The three turned at the sound and then took steps back when they saw the strange hooded man.

"At last we meet… Face to face…" The old man muses while looking over the three teens, his lips curving into a grin at one in particular.

The first of this group was a seventeen-year-old young man; he was tanned and held a strong physique with chiseled features, his hair was long, reaching to below his shoulders in numerous jagged spikes, while his luminescent blue/green eyes seemed to glow from beyond his pale bangs. He was dressed in a sleeveless black top that was unzipped slightly at his throat and waist, exposing his naval, a white vest is worn over that with a yellow collar and bottom edge, a pair of baggy blue jeans over his legs with a black studded belt, a white wrist warmer on his left arm, and a pair of white and black sneakers over his feet.

Next was a girl, approximately sixteen if he wasn't mistaken, she had a light build, suggesting she wasn't nearly as strong as the boy, with long blood red hair and beautiful sapphire eyes, she unlike the former boy held fair skin, she obviously got sun, but she wasn't as deeply tanned as the former. She was dressed in a white top with a black hood hanging down her back, a pink sleeveless / shoulder-less dress over that with zippers down the front the middle zipper brought down to the middle of her chest, a black belt was looped around her waist with a pouch on her left hip a strap on the opposite side, her shoes were purple with black laces up her legs, three bracelets on her left wrist, and finally was a pendant that was hanging to the center of her chest.

Last was the boy the old man was lingering on. He was sixteen like the girl, with tanned skin and extremely spiky sandy brown hair and bright familiar azure blue eyes, his build was lighter than the first boy yet more than the girls, suggesting he used more athletics than the other two. He was dressed in a sleeveless blue top with red over his stomach, a black coat worn over that with a hood hanging from the back and shoulder armor with yellow straps holding it on, a crown pendant hanging from his neck to the center of his chest, a pair of blue pants with black legs over them, a blue belt synched around his waist with yellow straps forming an X to them while yellow straps curved over his thighs, holding a pair of bright red pouches onto his thighs, his shoes were yellow with black toes and tongues, the soles seemed to be made of metal and black X shaped straps were over the tops, a zipper being the method to close these particular shoes, his hands were covered by black fingerless gloves with white bands over his hands, three metal studs at the back, and a yellow band around his wrists.

"Who are you?" The silver haired young man demanded and the old man couldn't help but roll his eyes for a moment. They were still children at heart, impatience was a part of that, unlike Naruto, whose life demanded he learn patience, demanded he loose his innocence early on… though the blond boy he'd taken an interest in was trying desperately to hold onto that innocence.

"My name is not important, but what is important is that you have something I need." The man states and the young man held his hand to one side a Keyblade forming in his outstretched hand and the man couldn't help a smirk upon seeing it.

The blade looked like an outstretched black bats wing with a red membrane, a white angels wing forming into the Teeth of the Keyblade, a spike near the guard with a blue cat like eye placed right between the handle and blade of the weapon, the guard was oddly formed from a black bat wing and an upside down angels wing, and like most keyblades it curved down to the hilt of the blade, the handle itself being wrapped in red leather while a keychain was on this weapon, the end of the chain showing a Heartless Symbol of all things… (Way to Dawn…)

"So quick to fight… your temper could use some work. Even HE didn't attack me outright when we first met." The man muses with an amused tone, seeing as Naruto didn't outright attack him when they first met, at least unlike this boy.

"Not really, but whenever someone wants something from us, it always ends badly." The boy retorts and the old man has to give him that, it was true that everyone who ever tried to get near them usually wanted something from them, and when they wanted something from them it often turned out badly. He supposed that only the King of Disney Castle and his fellow guardians of light were truly and completely trustworthy in the grand scheme of things.

"True, true. But all I require from you is two mere baubles… from him." The old man states then nudges his head towards Sora, the sandy brown haired boy blinking before narrowing his eyes on the old man.

"And what exactly do you want with these "baubles" exactly?" Sora demands while forming the Kingdom Key in one hand, just incase the old man decided to become a threat to them.

"Lets just say I have someone who needs allies… and these baubles will be the first step in reviving two VERY special allies for the war." The old man states while his fingers suddenly twitch, an old habit from his previous life he's sure…

"War? Let me guess, your another Dark user." The silver haired boy states and the old man sighed before cracking his neck.

"No. I am no user of Darkness… at the very least, I'm not like others you have met." The old man states then chuckles lightly in his throat and looked at them thoughtfully through the shadows of his hood. "Darkness and Light… I see no difference in them. One who is consumed by Darkness… is not worthy to wield the Keyblade." The old man says before folding his arms behind his back, an odd little smirk playing across his lips as he does. "But, one who is blinded by Light… is not fit for its power!" The old man states out darkly and Riku narrows his eyes onto the old man.

"I've heard enough out of you!" Riku shouts while lunging forward, swinging his Way to Dawn at the old man. However, a second before it would have connected with him, the old man seemed to vanish, Riku's eyes widening slowly as he looked all around for him. Spotting the old man now standing a fair distance away, Riku went into a stance once more, watching the old man with a wary feeling overtaken him…

"Then I suppose you won't listen to reason?" The old man questions of them with a frown and the silver haired boy merely gave him a look in response. "Very well… if I must I will TAKE what I came for!" The old man growled out while holding a hand to one side, instantly a flash of light appeared as he took hold of a Keyblade. Ignoring the looks of shock from the three the old man quickly launched forward with unbelievable speed, swinging his keyblade he knocked into Riku's, locking it in place before kicking out, and sending Riku rolling back and into a heap.

Smirking and seeming to phase once he'd laid out the boy, the old man appeared behind Sora and swung his weapon once more. Sora however quickly evaded the attack and the old man smirked slightly wider. _'Naruto has only had a few days of training with his Keyblades… but you Sora, you have years of experience that he doesn't… I'll have to remedy that if he is to defeat you.'_ The old man muses, then grins as Sora glows for a moment, and suddenly his outfit seems to have changed as he's now wearing a black and red outfit, Oathkeeper and Oblivion held in his hands in a ready stance.

"A Drive Form… how quaint." The old man muses as Sora couched down then launched forward, swinging both his keyblades with amazing speed and power. The old man casually analyzed Sora's style as he evaded the attacks, noting that Sora was the first he'd ever seen besides Naruto to try handling two Keyblades at once. _'However, that is only because "Roxas" is a part of Sora, thus I count them as the same person or it would be Roxas as first hands down. Although I must admit Sora has come a long way with his style…'_ The old man mused silently before flipping back to evade a power strike from Sora's twin Keyblade style.

"Had enough old timer?" Sora taunted and the old man raised a brow before rolling both eyes.

"I may be old… but my wisdom makes me worth hundreds of you, boy." He states simply, neither malice nor even hate in his tone, merely truth. Growling at the barb, Sora lunged forward once more, flipping into a spinning strike he was surprised when the man stopped his blades with one hand then threw him behind him with a smirk. Chuckling as he did so he soon turned and saw Riku coming at him with a roar. Smirking once more, the old man dodged a quick strike from Riku, and then blocked the silver haired youth's keyblade with his own and leaned forward.

"You could have been a great Keyblade Master, Riku…" The old man mused with obvious amusement and then swung his Keyblade upwards, knocking Riku off balance. Sliding out of the way Riku came at the old man once more, swinging his own blade down, the old man swung upwards. Growling in rage Riku swung in a sidelong arc only for the old man to use a stronger swing, sending him back. Forming a spell in his left hand the old man then flung a ball of ice at Riku, nailing him in the arm and sending him skidding back.

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed before lunging at the old man once more, swinging his Keyblade at the old man only for him to suddenly phase out of existence and take hold of him from the back of his head.

"Now this certainly seems familiar…" The old man muses while looking around with obvious amusement in his tone. Suddenly frowning, the old man quickly snatched two objects from Sora's pouches and then glared at Riku as he got back up and came running at him.

"Let him go!" Riku roared while making his way towards the old man, Keyblade at the ready. Smirking to himself the old man quickly sent an ice spell through his arm and into the sandy brown haired boy. Instantly Sora's eyes widened as ice suddenly formed over his entire body, eyes looking around in shock before the old man casually tossed him to the side. The girl who was with them, Kairi, gasped as he did so and she quickly rushed to the side in order to catch Sora while Riku roared and swung his Keyblade into the old man's own once more.

"You had such potential… only to waste it all…" The old man muses once more as Riku struggles with pushing his blade forward. "You are no keyblade Master… you are nothing but a pawn in this game." The old man then states before swinging his keyblade, sending Riku flying back once more as the old man then smirks and dissipates his keyblade. "I have what I wanted… so I'll leave you to help your friend…" The old man states with a mocking bow before then backing up into a Dark Corridor and vanishing from sight…

Panting and hurting, Riku gritted his teeth as he pushed himself to his feet, using his keyblade as a makeshift cane. Sighing, Riku surveyed the damage, looking to the frozen Sora and down at himself, Riku realized one thing instantly. _'Things are about to get a lot more hectic for us…'_

--

(Twilight Town…)

Naruto, Olette, Pence, and Hayner were all looking at the mirror behind a small waterfall… "There's nothing there…" Pence finally says with a look to his friend and Hayner scratches his head with a frown.

"Man what a drag, and I was really hoping to see something cool around this place… at least that DOESN'T have to deal with Naruto or Sora." Hayner complains lightly and Naruto rolls his eyes with a smirk across his lips.

"Hey, look at it this way, the mirror IS broken." Naruto reminds his fellow blond and Hayner rolls a finger in the air.

"Yeah… anybody could have broken this thing." Hayner reminds and Olette nods her head with a frown across her face.

"I still don't see why you were so interested in looking at this in the first place, Hayner." She tells the boy with a shake of her head and Naruto smiles before a voice echoes in his mind, making his eyes widen.

"_**Every adventure requires a first step. Trite, but true, even here."**_ The almost sinister sounding voice echoed out in his mind as Naruto placed a hand to his forehead.

"I thought we might actually find something interesting for once. You know how dull it's been around here since Sora left." Hayner reminds Olette, the two already looking ready to get in a fight while Naruto hears the voice once more.

"_**Protective walls may impede you, but the most difficult to penetrate are those that surround our hearts."**_ The voice utters once more while Naruto walks over to the mirror, standing in front of it he looks deeply into its depths and finally, he sees something…

It's a girl, eighteen if he's not mistaken and disturbingly thin, her cheeks having slightly sunken in on her, her long dark auburn locks falling straight down her back and over her chest to reach her shoulders, her skin was as pale as the moon itself with eyes unlike any he'd ever seen before, a bright emerald green that was almost reflective in color, seeming to gaze through him and into his very soul with their unnatural insanely wide piercing quality.

She was dressed in an old fashioned blue dress that had short poofy sleeves and the end of the skirt at her knees, a white pinafore dress worn over it with a large bow in the back and astronomical symbols on the pockets, her legs were covered by tall black boots with numerous buckles up the sides of them, a smidge of what looked like striped stockings barely visible, her wrists were covered in white bandages, and a necklace hung from her throat with a small silver horseshoe from it.

"Who are you?" Naruto wondered aloud, drawing the attention of Pence while Olette and Hayner continued to argue with one another.

"Naruto, what are…" He started to ask only to gasp when he saw the girl as well. "Who…" Pence wondered while walking over to stand beside of Naruto, the said blond slowly walking forward, then taking a step back as a Dark Corridor suddenly opened before the mirror. _**"Every adventure requires a first step. Trite, but true, even here."**_ Naruto suddenly remembered the voice saying and then took a breath before walking forward, into the Dark Corridor, leaving a gaping Pence as he vanished, the Dark Corridor sealing behind him…

--

TBC…

--

AN: Thank you all my readers and reviewers! American McGee's Alice is the first crossover, I'm glad there was a few of you who could tell. God of War is also one, but I'm having trouble thinking of other worlds that could be equated to "Dark" versions of worlds visited by Sora. Anyone with ideas would be appreciated, I will use a few "Light" orientated worlds for Naruto to visit, just less than the Dark Worlds… oh well, Ciao!


	8. Dementia

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 7**_: _**Dementia**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Ten Years ago…)

A small girl in a pale blue nightdress lies in bed, dreaming of friends in an odd land, an old stuffed rabbit held under one arm. A vast collection of old toys lay scattered about the room, jax, dice, blocks, and other such toys lay about. But bellow this room lay a much different one, a chess set and cards lay on one table as an inky black cat slunk its way around the room before settling and falling asleep on a table, a blue ribbon tied around its throat. A clock lay ticking loudly above a roaring fireplace, none the wiser to its doings. A ticking pocket watch lay before a pair of pictures, one of a woman, the other of her and her family, including a familiar little girl.

Up above, the little girl turns in her sleep, smiling slightly as she dreamed of three friends of hers… _"Wake up Dormy, its time for the Tea Party!"_ The little girl dreamed of a rabbit saying while a large grey dormouse mumbled something in its sleep. _"Can I hear a riddle…"_ It mumbled and a man in her dreams, dressed in a green overcoat and top hat grinned. _"I've got one! Why is a Raven, like a writing Desk?"_ The man questioned while putting emphases on his R's and laughing soon after.

Meanwhile, back down below, the cat from before awakes from its light nap, knocking a stack of books over, causing them to overturn and nock down a lamp. The lamp shattered upon the floor, lamp oil sliding and pooling until a single spark from the fireplace set a chain of events into motion, only the first part of the chain being when that single spark set the house ablaze…

Back in the little girls dream world, she found a roaring fire come alive as the man in the hat started to panic. _"Ahh! Fire! Fire! Oh dear oh Dear!"_ Screamed the man as the hare from before quickly looked to the "Hatter." _"You must Save Alice!"_ The hare cried out to the hatter as the fire spread, smoke rising and starting to fill the girls room in the waking world. _"Wake up Alice! Wake up!"_ The Hatter suddenly exclaimed loudly and the girl quickly awoke, only for the smoke to cause her eyes to burn and a hacking cough to escape her lips.

Getting up and covering her mouth the little girl made her way quickly out of her room into the hall beside it. Breathing easier outside of her room the little girl held onto her toy rabbit while making her way down the hall. "Mum, Dad." She uttered when she heard banging on the door from her parents bedroom.

"Alice?" Questioned a voice from the door and the girl ran towards it, reaching a hand out for it.

"Mum! Father!" She cried out desperately, the sounds of crackling fire and breaking wood not lost on her ears.

"I can't see!" A man's voice called out while Alice stopped in front of the door.

"Get out, Alice!" A woman exclaimed as the little girl backed away from the door, eyes wide.

"Save yourself, Alice, get out of the house!" The man managed to get out passed his own hacking coughs, little Alice rushing away from the door, tears streaming from her brilliant emerald orbs. Rushing down the steps, she gasped at a rise of flames, swearing she saw a sneering face within the flames for a moment the girl quickly rushed downstairs and then flung open the door and lunged out of her home, screaming when she heard her parents dying screams…

--

(Present…)

A familiar girl lay in bed, her emerald eyes wide open and staring vacantly towards the ceiling of her room, the covers pulled up to her chest. In the nape of one arm resides a familiar, yet considerably older white rabbit doll with a missing button eye. However, more ominous is the slits that are visibly healing upon her wrists… "Poor dear. After all these years…" A woman muses while looking upon the catatonic young woman for a moment. "Maybe that old rabbit of hers' will bring her around." The nurse muses while leaving through a doorway, closing a heavy metal door behind her.

Lightning suddenly flashed beyond the bars in a nearby window, the girls dazzling emerald eyes suddenly twitch. The fingers of her left hand do so as well for a moment, before her left arm slowly rises up, wrapping around the white rabbit doll in her arm. The screams of the insane and mad within Rutledge Asylum do little to cause fear in her, she's heard the screams and cries of the man for years after all. Eyes suddenly blinking, the young woman turned her head slowly towards the rabbit… However, the toy suddenly moved, causing her eyes to rovolve over to it in shock as a voice suddenly came from it and to her…

"_Save us Alice!"_

--

(Broken Wonderland…)

Naruto cried out loudly as he fell down an odd blue spiraling hole, cursing as he came towards the ground he quickly righted himself and landed on both feet with a grunt. Breathing a sigh of relief and mentally thanking Jiraiya for all his training in balance and landing on his feet the blond looked around and took a step back in a combination of shock and horror. This world just had to be the epitome of Dark; at least that was how it appeared to him. The walls were a deep grungy grey with cracks in them, with what appeared to be an old mineshaft up ahead, the sky itself was dark and twisted, with what was either a sun or a moon being colored blood red…

"Okay… I think I may have just landed in hell…" Naruto notes and shivers for a moment, before finally noticing something even odder than the terrain… one of the inhabitants.

This particular inhabitant bore a striking resemblance to a large white rabbit with pink eyes and a small nose, its twin buckteeth sticking down over its lower lip just below its small pink nose. However, this rabbit was unnaturally thin and standing upon its hind legs with its hands folded while appearing just as "Twisted" as the terrain around it, it was also somehow wearing clothes, which consisted of a pair of black kid gloves, white spats, yellow vest with a pocket watch chain hanging from it, red overcoat, and black top hat… giving the odd white rabbit a gentlemanly appearance…

"Whoa… don't see that everyday." Naruto notes while the Rabbit frowns for a moment, then reaches into its coat to retrieve a pocket watch. Looking upon the watch the Rabbit briefly twitched before looking up at Naruto and nodded his head.

"Right on time I see. Good, I like punctuality." He notes while looking at Naruto and the said blond blinked, wondering why he found a talking rabbit strange after everything he'd seen recently…

"Uh… do I know you?" Naruto questioned then mentally slapped himself. He was pretty sure he'd never met any talking rabbits before after all…

"Not exactly. But I know you. Uzumaki Naruto, Red Seeker of Darkness, set to arrive precisely before Alice… though she's a bit late I see. I suppose that some bad habits don't die with age." The rabbit noted with a thin frown forming across its whiskered face, causing Naruto to blink before suddenly hearing a girl scream. "Ah, there she is." The rabbit noted and Naruto looked up, and then cursed when he saw something falling towards him. Quickly spreading out his legs and preparing his arms the young blond braced himself as he caught a girl bridal style in his arms. Blinking as he found himself staring into a pair of dazzling emerald orbs, the young blond grinned…

"Whoa… it's raining babes…" He noted and the girl frowned as he looked upwards to the distorted and twisted sky above. "I thought the sky looked a little funny." Naruto noted humorously and the girl narrowed her eyes on him dangerously.

"Put. Me. Down." She ordered with an edge to her tone and Naruto shrugged his shoulders, though noted she had a cute accent he couldn't quite place. Smiling as he then tilted his arms down and allowed the girl's heeled boots to make contact with the ground. Flipping her dark auburn hair, the girl then brushed herself off before staring at the rabbit that Naruto had noted, a notable frown on its features. However, it only took Naruto a second to tell that this girl, and the one he'd seen in the mirror from before, were in fact one and the same, same clothes, same height, and even the same hair and features…

"Please don't dawdle Alice. We're very late indeed!" The rabbit suddenly said before quickly scurrying off down the wooden path on all fours, Alice looking strangely more confused than Naruto. However, something odd happened when an odd grey cat suddenly appeared, the cat bearing a monstrous, unnatural grin and wily yellow eyes, both of which seemed to shimmer and glow, its ears were torn however with a gold earring in its right one, its body thin as a rail, making it appear more like a skeleton wrapped in flesh than anything else, and the only fur on its body being on the tip of its tail, and chin, while black tattoos were scattered over its form.

Grinning towards them, the cat lazily made its way over to them, razor sharp claws dragging and clattering against the ground as it did, a small smile touching the edges of Alice's lips when she saw him. "You've gone quite mangy Cat, but you're grin's a comfort." "Alice" as Naruto supposed she was named offered the cat with her arms folded behind her back and it looked at her for a moment as well.

"And you've picked up a bit of an attitude." The cat commented with obvious amusement, Naruto snickering while Alice frowned. "Still curious and willing to learn, I hope." The cat then wondered sarcastically, already knowing the answer, while still looking at the girl and she seemed to ignore the cat's comment while looking around and halting her narrowed emerald orbs on Naruto.

"And who might he be then? With those enormous keys on his back he must be quite mad." She asked the cat then mused to herself and Naruto twitched visibly at the barb, though did admit the Keyblades could look kind of silly without knowing just how much power was in them

"Excuse me missy, but I believe it's impolite, and rude to ask for my name without giving yours in exchange…" Naruto states and gave a frown to the girl, Alice merely blinking for a moment before turning to look at the cat with a raised brow.

"He has a point you know." The cat states and an odd look spread across Alice's face before she quickly turns and gives an apologetic bow to the blond boy.

"Oh please do forgive my rudeness, I seem to have forgotten my manners in the asylum." The girl states and Naruto makes a note of the fact she was obviously, legally insane… though given the world he'd found himself in that wasn't really saying all that much. "My name is Alice Pleasance Liddell, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance good sir." The girl then says while she also gave a slight curtsy to the young blond, and then stood up straight.

"Uh… right, Uzumaki Naruto. But my first name is Naruto." The blond offers while rubbing the back of his neck and Alice nods her head before turning back to the Cat from before, an amused look over its face.

"He doesn't seem like the rest of Wonderland, or in any way mad, even with those giant keys, why is he here?" She asked and Naruto twitched, though did wonder about that himself…

"He's another player in this game Alice, however the stakes are much higher as a result." The Cat replies and both Alice and Naruto look at the cat in confusion before Alice sighed and looked around once more, a frown forming across her pale face.

"Wonderland's become quite strange Cheshire Puss. How is one to find her way?" Alice then asked the cat while rocking on the heels of her feet and the cat rolled its eyes at her.

"As knowing where you're going is preferable to being lost, ask. Rabbit knows a thing or two, and I, myself, don't need a weathervane to tell which way the wind blows." The cat offered while waving a paw at its side, Naruto walking to stand beside Alice, the girl giving him a scathing look as he did so. "Let your need guide your behavior. Suppress your instinct to lead. Pursue Rabbit." The cat ordered before suddenly vanishing into thin air and Naruto looked to Alice and she huffed for a moment.

"Best be off I suppose…" The girl mumbled while making her way forward, Naruto idly noting that the girl had a Skull holding the bow of her Pinafore dress… _'That girl is all kinds of creepy… and the rest of this world isn't much better.'_ Naruto muses and then looks down when the Cheshire-Cat appears beside him, a grin still over its face.

"Something troubling you?" The cat asked and Naruto frowned down at it.

"What am I supposed to be doing here, exactly?" The blond questioned and the cat smirked, amusement dancing in its yellow gaze.

"There is many things you could do here dear boy, and none of them are for me to decide. What you will do here depends solely on your own choices, just make sure you will be able to live with them in the end." The cat offered cryptically before vanishing and Naruto looked around for a moment before sighing as he finally followed after Alice. Making his way down the tunnel, Naruto saw the girl speaking to a small man with a large glowing sphere on his back held on by an odd metal apparatus of some sort…

'_Okay… so she and the cat aren't the strangest things around here…'_ Naruto notes while walking towards Alice, the girl finishing her conversation then turned to see Cheshire sitting beside a large wooden plank leading to a steam vent of some kind. Also nearby Naruto noted a small wooden shack, the walls of the mineshaft having been carved out around it. Walking over to the vent, the distance surprised Naruto; at the very least it looked to be five feet across and all around, with walls at both sides making it impossible to avoid it if they wanted to move on.

"How do you expect Alice to get across this?" Naruto asked the Cheshire-Cat and it grinned before looking to Alice.

"When the path is problematical, consider a leap of faith. Ride the Wind." The Cheshire-Cat replied before vanishing and Naruto looked over to Alice, the girl obviously not so keen on that idea. Sighing, the blond former nin rubbed the back of his neck while looking at her.

"Listen, I can jump across this in my sleep, I could carry you or…" Naruto started to say, only for Alice's eyes to flare and narrow on him. One thing he knew was how to judge people based on their actions. Thus far, Alice was temperamental, insane to some degree he was sure, could be a proper lady when she wanted, was always polite to people, though less so when they were rude to her, and of course she also seemed a tad too strict for his liking…

"I can make do on my own, thank you." The girl stated while backing up, took a breath, and then ran forward, jumping from the planks and into the air with her eyes screwed shut. Blinking, Naruto watched as the skirt of Alice's dress poofed outwards and her body started to rise into the air all without her knowing. Seconds later she opened one eye and looked around, then shifted her weight to carry her over to the other side and breathed a sigh of relief… even given how strange Wonderland was, she'd never actually done something quite like that before…

"S-see, perfectly fine." Alice told Naruto, mentally grimacing at the slight stutter belaying her true fear. Hearing the stutter, but choosing to ignore it, Naruto took a couple steps back then crouched down. Licking his lips the blond then rushed forward, jumped from the planks and into the air, flipped once then landed behind a surprised and shocked Alice with a grin. Turning and crossing his arms, Naruto looks at Alice as she looks at him, then the vent, then back at him in surprise.

"Don't look so surprised Alice, I've got a few tricks as well… and mine don't require me to where such a poofy skirt." Naruto states while gazing at the girl with amusement, thus causing Alice to huff, cross her arms, then pout much like a little girl would… he decided to add childish to the list of things about Alice he knew.

"Don't be such a show off, we have more important things to worry about than that." The girl stated before marching off, Naruto smirking once more before shaking his head as he followed the girl. Coming to another of the tiny people, Naruto wondered briefly what the odd things on their backs were supposed to be before ignoring it entirely. Behind this one Naruto noted a sign that said "Drole Vel's Extraction" and wondered if the tiny man was this "Drole Vel", and a house was nearby as well, made in the same way as the last.

"Stir up no, trouble strangers. The Red-Queen's agents are ruthless." The man stated while gazing at the two from the porch of another tiny shack and Alice rolled her eyes before giving the gnome a look.

"I'm not afraid of her, or her creatures… never was really." Alice states, then muses mostly to herself while Naruto was scoping out the terrain, just encase… "You should stand up to them and fight." Alice stated and the gnome visibly cringed, Naruto not spotting anyone listening or watching them crossed his arms.

"Defiance is useless. While the Red-Queen reigns, only death can release us from this misery." The gnome said miserably and Naruto took a thoughtful expression for a moment, eyes briefly flaring amber.

"Or her death…" He notes and Alice nodded her head in agreement with the blond for once.

"Perhaps… but her death is as unlikely as freedom for our people…" The gnome said sadly before walking away, Naruto twitching as it went.

"Was it just me, or was that guy an emo?" Naruto wondered and Alice gave him a confused look at the nickname, making him sigh in exasperation. "Never mind Alice, lets just get moving already…" Naruto muttered while walking off, Alice following after him as he went and both spotted The Cheshire-Cat at the opening to another mineshaft. "Yo, Cheshire…" Naruto offered with a raised hand to the beast and the cat smirked widely while looking at them.

"Having a bit of trouble are we?" He asked them in the same calm tone as always and Alice nodded her head.

"The people here don't seem to be at all interested in freedom I'm afraid… and those things they wear all seem so uncomfortable." Alice notes, causing Naruto to look at her incredulously, and the Cheshire cat nodded his head slowly.

"Sadly the Queen beat all the fight out of these gnomes. However that is not a problem at the moment. For now you should press on, we have more important things to worry about." The cat offered cryptically before vanishing once more and Naruto rolled his eyes before looking to Alice, then made a sweeping motion towards another nearby mineshaft.

"After you." He offered with amusement and Alice gave him a scathing look before making her way down the hall, only to stop when the heel of her boot got caught in a knot in one of the wooden floorboards… biting back a laugh as the girl tugged on her leg in an attempt to extricate her heel from the floor. Shaking his head, Naruto crossed his arms and watched as Alice finally pulled one last time, broke the heel off her boot and tumbled back and onto her ass with an unladylike grunt…

"Ouch…" Alice mumbled while rubbing her rear then looked at her shoe and paused. "Oh no, my poor boots, what am I to do with you now? You were so nice and new and now your ruined… and surely I can't simply buy a pair new boots here!" The girl mumbled sadly while looking at her boot and Naruto couldn't help the snicker that escaped his lips, Cheshire popping up beside him as he did. Looking to the cat, Naruto noted it didn't seem at all surprised, amused yes, surprised no.

"Why aren't you surprised by this?" Naruto asks as Alice fusses over her boot, and then starts trying to pry the heel out of the knot…

"When Alice first came to Wonderland she grew ten feet tall. She actually thought she wouldn't be able to reach her "Dear Little Feet" in order to pull her stockings on or tie her shoes on herself… made her cry a literal river as well." Cheshire noted and Naruto bit his lip to keep from laughing outright at the silliness of the girl.

"And how old was she when that happened?" Naruto asked and Cheshire seemed to take a thoughtful expression for a moment.

"Seven and a half exactly." The cat finally replied and Naruto stopped and actually thought about it for a second…

"Oh, that explains it then." Naruto mused mostly to himself with a shrug, Cheshire nodding his head in agreement.

"Yes. But perhaps we should stop speaking of the past and return to the present. Alice will need her boots repaired if she's to make her way through Wonderland, walking upon sharp rocks would not be good for her after all." Cheshire reminds and Naruto nodded his head, and then walked over to Alice as she continued to fuss over and try to retrieve her broken heel.

"Move over, I'll get it out…" Naruto mumbled and got down next to Alice before reaching to the pouch on his thigh. Pulling a Kunai from it the blond boy then used it to jar the heel out of the knot and handed it over to Alice. Blinking, the emerald eyed beauty looked at the heel, then at Naruto then scowled.

"I could have gotten it out myself…" She mumbled towards him with a pout over her face and Naruto gave her a look in response.

"Yeah, and you were doing such a great job of it before." Naruto says sarcastically and before they both glare at one another.

"If I might interject for but a brief moment of your time." Cheshire suddenly commented before walking to the end of the hall and behind the roots of some trees. The cat then motioned to a glowing red stone and grinned. "This is Meta-essence, you will soon learn that it has many uses Alice…" Cheshire said while waving to it, then moved to grab it with his teeth and carried it over to the two.

Dropping the crimson stone near Alice's boot he then motioned for the heel and Alice blinked before she placed it before the cat. Smirking, the cat then pushed the Meta-essence close to the damaged boot and hell and both Naruto and Alice watched on in no small amount of surprise as the meta-essence gave off a bright glow, and then reformed the boot back into pristine condition…

"Oh what a curious thing Cheshire-Puss, pray tell why I've never seen such a thing in Wonderland before." Alice noted and Cheshire merely grinned for a moment before answering her.

"Meta-Essence is the life force of all things in Wonderland, Alice. But, that of your enemies is especially potent, thus making them all the more dangerous. Collect what you can, but use it wisely." The cat urged and then vanished once more, Naruto holding a hand to Alice to help her back to her feet, instead the girl narrowed her eyes on him, huffed and pushed herself up. Stopping for a moment she then walked around in her boots then once she seemed assured that she wouldn't fall again she made her way down the mineshaft, Naruto scratching his head before following after her.

Making their way passed more small shacks and up a set of planks they came to a stop before a house with a sign that proclaimed it the "Mayors House" that was larger than those seen thus far. Spotting another gnome resting before the house, Alice went over to speak with him. "Everyone seems completely dejected." She noted while looking all around then rolled on her heels. "Are things really as bad as all that?" Alice asked the gnome and Naruto looked at her with a blank expression for a moment.

"Have you been ignoring the acid streams and the pitch black sky?" Naruto asked with obvious annoyance and Alice actually took a moment to look at those things then blushed accordingly, feeling very foolish.

"Aye, and the truth of just how bad it is, would reduce ya to a blubbering baby." The mayor noted, his voice somehow sounding stronger than the last Gnome. "Now what are ye wanting from me? I don' want no trouble." The gnome then commented and Alice rolled on her heels while Naruto crossed his arms, she seemed more familiar with this place, he'd let her do the talking… for now.

"I and my… companion here are looking for my friend The White Rabbit. Have you seen him perhaps?" Alice questioned and the mayor looked at her, then at Naruto and seemed to linger on his visible Keyblades.

"Aye, he went through that doorway over yonder." The gnome commented while motioning over to a door about the size of a mouse, if not smaller. Grimacing Naruto wondered just how he and Alice were supposed to get through that when the Gnome looked them both over once more. "Would either ye or yer friend be the savior Rabbit's been telling us about fer all this time?" The gnome questioned and Alice looked more than just a little uncomfortable.

"I can't speak for my companion, but I shouldn't think I am. I'm a person… and just now I wish to get very small." The girl comments then holds her fingers a few inches apart. "About this big exactly." The girl states and the mayor looks at her fingers for a few moments, then seems deep in thought.

"Calls for serious twisting. You'll need to go sideways, not forward. If I knew how, I'd go sideways myself." The gnome mayor mused and Naruto reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose for a moment.

"Not twisted you old coot, small, we need to be this big." Naruto suddenly states while also holding his fingers a few inches apart. Nodding his head the man suddenly rubbed his chin before licking his lips.

"The Fortress of doors holds such secrets. But it will take more than a wish to get inside." The Gnome mused before walking off while The Cheshire-Cat popped up beside them and grinned at them both knowingly.

"Doors have locks, locks need keys, of which you don't have. So lets hope the doors are open." The cat states and Alice nods her head before looking to Naruto's two keyblades for a moment.

"And if not, there may be more than one way to skin a cat, if you'll pardon the expression." Alice mused with a smirk and Cheshire tried to grimace, but still only grinned widely towards her.

"A most unpleasant metaphor. Please avoid it in the future." Cheshire pleaded and Alice reached over to grab Naruto by the shoulder and pull him over.

"Hey!" Naruto grumbled while freeing himself of the girls grasp until she grabbed him by the collar and pointed to his keyblades.

"Maybe these key's could open a few locked doors for us." She says and Cheshire hums lightly in thought for a few moments while looking at the blades, a frown marring Naruto's features as he does…

"Perhaps, but I highly doubt that you'll like what ever comes out of the doors that those keys unlock." The cat comments cryptically before suddenly vanishing once more, leaving two very confused teens in his wake.

"I don't care how long you've been around here, and I don't care how used to him you are Alice, that cat is weird." Naruto states and Alice nods her head in agreement with him before turning and heading further into the mind, hoping someone more useful than the mayor could help her. Following after her, Naruto suddenly grabbed Alice and pulled her back as a… wait just a second… was that a playing card?

No, but it resembled one greatly at a passing glance. The thing held a body shaped like a card, a Spade on the front with a spear with a spaded tip clutched in black gloved hands, black boots covered its feet and a medieval executioners hood covered his head as he tried to stab Alice. "Alright I don't know who or what you are but lay off!" Naruto growled while pulling his Keyblades from his back and swinging one to knock the spear upwards before kicking the card in it's "Chest" knocking it back and into a wall.

Grunting the "Card-Guard" got back up and lunged forward, stabbing its spear towards the blond. Smirking, Naruto blocked with Dark Soldier then swung the sharp edge of Dark-Heart and sliced through the card. However, rather than being cut in half a sliver of Darkness cut through the card and it screamed before being consumed by a black mist. Seconds later a Neo-Shadow stood where it had been and then vanished into the shadows while Naruto looked down at his weapon in surprise…

"Well… that was new…" Naruto noted with no small amount of surprise in his tone, only for Alice to then grab him by his hood and yank him towards her.

"And what was all that then? What did you do to that card?" She questioned darkly, eyes narrowed on the blond and Naruto blinked.

"It's called, saving your life, Princess!" He growled out angrily and Alice's eyes turned even colder than normal while glaring at him.

"I never asked you to save me, I can very well take care of myself." Alice stated and Naruto brushes her hands from his cloak while giving her an annoyed glare.

"Hey, from my point of view you didn't even see that thing until it was about to stab you! I'm just doing what Cheshire said and following my instincts, and right then my instincts told me you were in danger!" Naruto growled out icily and Alice and he glared into one another's eyes once more before the Cheshire cat appeared nearby, resting its chin upon its paws.

"Cheshire, would you please tell this rude upstart not to go about killing everything he sees. I do have friends here and I'd rather he not make them disappear as well." Alice demanded of the Cheshire cat and it merely glanced at Naruto before turning to look at Alice.

"Alice, the Card-Guard are tools to the queen, all suits are dolts, but still quite dangerous. And do not forget that to the royal guards of this realm, we are all victims in waiting." The Cheshire cat utters darkly and Alice looks at the cat in shock.

"Cheshire, how can you say such a thing, what has happened to your reason?" Alice asked the cat and Cheshire merely continued to grin down at her sinisterly.

"When the remarkable becomes bizarre, reason turns rancid." The Cat proclaimed and Alice looked shocked and confused by its remarks.

"What do you mean, exactly?" Alice asked and the cat rolled its eyes.

"Wonderland has become quite twisted since you've been away. Friend has become foe, right is wrong, dark is light, things are so horribly twisted here that even I find myself afraid to venture out alone at night. You mustn't allow yourself to be caught off guard by the faces of your former friends, for now they might just be your enemies." The Cat explained and Alice's features dropped before finding her boots interesting.

"Then what should I do?" She asks and the cat smirks.

"I suppose 'Experience teaches best', 'Learn by doing', and similar clichés have merit. Take their advice, I'm busy." The cat offered and started to vanish.

"Wait!" Alice suddenly called out, the head of the cat all that remained. "How am I supposed to learn by doing? I don't even have a weapon encase you've forgotten." Alice reminds and the cat seemed to take a thoughtful expression for a moment.

"You may have missed something, after all what's rubbish to one is salvation to another." The cat offered before vanishing completely and Alice huffed before turning to stare at Naruto for a moment.

"What? Want to blame me for something else?" Naruto questioned while glaring at the girl and she sighed before giving an apologetic bow.

"Please do forgive me sir, I'm not at all myself it seems, and I'm having trouble remembering who I should be." The girl offers and Naruto raises a brow at that, though wisely decided not to ask how she could be anyone else… she was crazy after all…

"Yeah well, lets hurry up already." Naruto mumbled and walked off, Alice following him into another area where a ledge was the only way forward. Looking up at it they both saw the Cheshire cat appear once more, still grinning down at them.

"Only a few find the way; some don't recognize it when they do; some don't ever want to." The cat offered cryptically and Naruto felt his eyes widen as he easily recognized the message as the same on one of his notes. Frowning the blond looked to Alice and watched with some surprise as she jumped up to the ledge and pulled herself up. Sighing, the blond crouched then jumped and flipped onto the ledge himself while Alice ran up a ramp and to another gnome. Following the girl with a slight sigh Naruto placed his hands into his pockets as he got close to her.

"Rabbit told us a champion would come. Are you that champion?" The gnome asked Alice while Naruto came up behind her and she rocked on her heels once more.

"Perhaps, but I'm not much of a Champion without a weapon of some sort." Alice muses and the gnome looked at her before nodding his head in agreement.

"Aye, that be very true lass." He agrees before rubbing his chin for a moment, obviously deep in thought. "But, I might be able ta help ya with that. I have an old knife I been meaning to get rid of. It's not much, no sword of course, but it's sharp as a razor and as long as me arm." The man offers and Alice blinks before remembering the words of The Cheshire Cat, thus nodded her head. "Oh thank ya, I didn't want the Card-Guard finding it in me home, they'd take me away fer sure if'n they found it." The gnome said mostly to himself as he wondered into a nearby house while Naruto frowned.

"We don't have time for this Alice. That Rabbit can't keep waiting for us forever." Naruto reminds and Alice gives him a look.

"Learn a little patience, it's a virtue after all." She reminds and Naruto scoffed, wondering what virtues she was supposed to have considering her actions towards him thus far… Watching as the Gnome came back out of the house, Naruto was a little surprised by the long, wicked looking knife it had clutched in its hands. The weapon was completely silver, two feet long, with etchings over the blade, and had black leather wrapped around its hilt-less handle…

"Here ya go lassy, this aught a be a good enough weapon fer ya. Its called the "Vorpal Blade" legend says it was forged from shards of the ol' "Vorpal Sword" what once cut the Jabberwocky's head off." The tiny gnome offered and Alice looked at the blade with shock and awe in her eyes, then took hold of it and swung it a few times before turning it to hold it backhanded behind her back.

"Thank you kind sir." Alice offered while giving a small curtsy. "Now, would you possibly be able to get us inside the fortress of doors?" Alice questioned and the gnome looked at her before shivering.

"Oh no, wouldn't dare. Since the upheaval we've all become gutless halfwits. I can barely risk crossing the road… giving you that knife is bad enough without trying to help you into the fortress. But, make your way to the mines, the deepest pit, there's one wiser and braver than myself who might help. He still lives free you see." The gnome offered and Alice crossed her arms before nodding her head slowly. Turning and walking up another plank walkway with Naruto behind her, Alice stopped when the Cheshire Cat appeared once more and smiled.

"Look Cheshire-Puss, I found a weapon just like you said." She offered while showing the cat the wicked looking knife, the cat merely grinning as it shined in the light.

"Yes… your knife is necessary, but not sufficient. Always collect what's useful. Reject only your ignorance, and you might survive." The cat offered cryptically and Alice flinched before nodding her head while Cheshire suddenly pointed to a mineshaft with a sign over it proclaiming it "Yur-Mine". "Every adventure requires a first step. Trite, but true, even here." Cheshire offered while looking to the mineshaft and Alice nodded her head as she journeyed down into the mine.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Naruto had to wonder as he followed the girl into the shaft…

--

(??)

A familiar cloaked old man smirks as he makes his way into the "World that never was". Nodding his head he casually walked forward, through the world before stopping at what appeared to be an absent Silhouette, much like the one found by Naruto himself. However, this one was different in that it was surrounded by fire, a white picture of an odd shuriken shaped weapon in the center of it. "Ah, here you are." He notes to himself before reaching out and touching the object, causing it to glow before he was enveloped in its light.

Finding himself in the word of "Betwixt and Between" the old man formed his keyblade at his side. A second later a burst of fire appeared and the old man grinned as a man formed out of the flames, a pair of silver and red Chakrams spinning around his body. "Good. I was correct after all." The old man notes as the man before him suddenly reached out and took hold of the Chakrams, head bowed and body covered in a Dark Cloak much like his own. The man suddenly cracked his neck, then lowered his arms, his Chakra's dangling from his fingers.

Throwing both weapons into the air, the Absent Silhouette then reached up to brush his hood back before grasping his Chakrams from midair with a smirk. The old man chuckled as he saw the face of this Absent Silhouette, though his grip on his weapon tightened as well. This one was clearly male, though was thin and lanky with an athletic build, his hair was a deep blood red color and spiked backwards, his eyes were an intense green, with upside down purple tear marks under them, his skin was tanned and he had a cocky smirk gracing his lips as he looked at the old man.

"Ahh, good to see you still exist. Even if only slightly." The old man notes yet the Absent Silhouette is silent, gazing at him intensely. "It's only too bad your not who you appear to be, just his power and some memory given form." The old man muses before twirling his Keyblade in one hand. "Now then, come forward! Show me your power!" The old man demanded and the red haired man grinned widely before twirling his Chakrams in hand, then suddenly spun them at his sides, flames suddenly shooting into a circle around him and the old man…

--

TBC…

--

AN: Another Chapter! And I hope you like the intruduction to a world based on American McGee's Alice...


	9. Pandemonium

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 8**_: _**Pandemonium**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Wonderland…)

Sora shivered violently in bed, sneezing soon after before wrapping himself in a thick blanket. "St-st-stupid old man… j-j-just had to g-g-get me s-s-sick." Sora grumbled and Kairi, one of his two best friends, suddenly shook her head and then placed a warm washcloth onto his forehead. "Thanks Kairi…" Sora managed to say with a weak smile and the red head gave a kind smile in return.

Outside, Riku stood with a frown, their trip to "Wonderland" having been a total flop since that old man beat them into the dirt. _'Not that this place was all that interesting anyways…'_ Riku muses seeing as Wonderland was just a little too crazy for his tastes, sighing when he saw The White Rabbit hop by Riku reached a hand to rub his face. "Why did we have to come here?" He wondered silently and then remembered why that had to come to this world.

"Right, Sora wanted to make sure no Nobodies or Heartless were on these worlds since he wasn't able to check on them last year." Riku remembers and then leans his head back into the March-Hare's Home. Closing his eyes the silver haired teen briefly wonders what that old man had wanted with a couple of trinkets. The "Bond of Flame" was a Keyblade, true, but he didn't see why he'd want a Keychain. Then the "Shock Charm+" that Sora had, neither of which seemed all that useful in the long run.

"If he wanted something for power, why not take the Ultima Keyblade, Winner's Proof, Serendipitous Pair, Oathkeeper, Oblivion, or even Fenrir?" Riku wondered to himself, a frown crossing his features while leaning back. It was true that "Bond of Flame" could be exceedingly powerful if used correctly; Sora had used it for the longest time after all. But why not take a more detrimental Keychain instead? Sighing, Riku rubbed his face before hearing a sound. Looking up the silver haired youth smirked when he saw a familiar Gummi-Ship heading towards them.

"Bout time." Riku noted as the Gummi-Ship set down and a familiar Mouse and his two followers hopped out of the ship. "Hey King Mickey, long time." Riku noted with a smirk towards his old friend and Mickey grinned towards the silver haired teen.

"Not that long, though I do have to wonder why your still here. I thought you'd all be heading back to Destiny Islands by now." Mickey notes while crossing his arms. Riku, Sora, and Kairi all usually spent a month or two with their parents since they figured out how to get there and back. It was so no one would worry, though Mickey chuckled when he remembered how Sora was crushed into a hug by his mom.

"Well Howdy there Riku, how's ol' Sora doing without us around?" Goofy asked with a wave while Donald merely watched on, not feeling the needed to ask.

"He's sick… and that's why we haven't left yet." Riku replied with a sigh and the three blinked in unison.

"Sora's sick? Why not use a Cure Spell or an Elixir or Potion on 'em?" Donald wondered and Riku cleared his throat, a slight blush coloring his checks.

"Uh… besides Sora… neither Kairi or me know any healing spells… and he's too sick to lift his Keyblade to use one himself. And as far as Potions and the like are concerned, well… we were trying to save some money." Riku admitted while scratching one cheek, Mickey snickering with Goofy and Donald. Riku couldn't help but feel more than a little foolish with his admitted lack of knowledge with spells. Kairi knew a plethora of "Light" based magic thanks to Merlin and Master Yen Sid, but neither of them ever took the time to learn a single heeling spell… all and all Kairi was adamant to learn one and Riku was literally banging his head into the walls when he realized how stupid they were for only having one healer… and no potions…

"I offered to teach you a Healing Spell Riku, but you said you wouldn't need it with Sora around." Mickey suddenly reminded and Riku grunted, then looked to his shoulder as Jiminy jumped onto it.

"Riku, I finally figured out what was missing besides the Bond of Flame and Shock Charm." Jiminy said and Mickey blinked for a moment before frowning.

"What's going on Riku? How did Sora lose those?" Donald asked for the king and Riku sighed once more.

"We were attacked recently, some old man in a black cloak froze Sora solid, got my arm, and beat us both with one arm…" Riku admitted with a twitch, wondering just how an old man could do so much damage to two Keyblade Masters!

"An old man?" Mickey wondered, eyes widening before shaking his head.

"Yeah, old guy with a deep voice, bent into a kind of hunch, liked to twitch his fingers a lot." Riku offered and Mickey's eyes widened in shock and fear before quickly spinning around.

"What happened to him, Riku? What was he after? Where did he go?" Mickey asked quickly while turning back to the silver haired teen and Riku looked at him strangely for a moment.

"You okay, you seem a little… tense." Riku noted and Mickey took a quick breath to calm himself.

"That description matched someone… but he was swallowed by Darkness a long time ago." Mickey replied and Riku nodded his head slowly. "Anyways, what did this man take?" Mickey then asked and Jiminy looked at a piece of paper in his hands.

"Well that's just the thing. All he took was the Bond of Flame and Shock Charm, I can't even imagine what he'd want with them and not a more powerful Keyblade or Item!" Jiminy admits and Mickey frowned, easily able to tell there was something they didn't know and that it was something very bad for them…

"Well fella's, looks like the Forgotten Longing will have to wait, whoever that man in the cloak was, something tells me he was up to no good." Mickey states and Riku raises a brow towards the mouse. "Long story, I'll explain it later. For now, lets just heal Sora and look for that man." Mickey states and Riku inwardly sighs… there went visiting their parents…

--

(Broken Wonderland…)

"I officially hate mines." Naruto grumbled while exiting the small, cramped mineshaft with Alice. Said girl in complete agreement with the young blond.

"Well, it could always be worse." Alice tried to reason with a shrug and Naruto slapped his face.

"Never say that… things only get worse when you do…" Naruto mumbled and Alice blinked before stopping on a wooden ledge and resisted the urge to slap herself. The room was rounded slightly, acid forming a large pool at the bottom, green ropes hanging down all around them, and no ladders down to the wooden walkway on the other side of the room where Alice saw a small gnome elder puffing away at a pipe.

"Apparently your right… there's no ladder or anything to get down." She states and Naruto grunts while looking to the acid below, and then spots the Cheshire Cat nearby, licking a paw and sitting on one of the upward posts for the walkway.

"Got something to say Cheshire?" Naruto wonders with his arms crossed, already knowing the answer.

"Hanging Ropes are as good as step ladders to those who know how to use them." Cheshire replies casually, moving a paw to motion towards the hanging green ropes before them, a line of them leading down towards several wooden planks at the other side of the large room.

"How does he expect us to get over there with a bunch of ropes?" Alice demanded incredulously and Naruto merely grinned.

"Well, explaining everything is more Cheshire's game. I prefer the old saying, learn by doing…" Naruto mused mostly to himself before running forward, grabbing a rope and then gave out an excited cry as he swung forward before flipping off of it and grabbing the next. Chuckling the blond then swung from that one and landed on the wooden boards, grinning up at Alice cheekily.

"Bloody hell… he really is Mad." Alice whispered to herself before sighing as she slowly stood up and backed up a few paces. "But I'm not sure whose more mad, him for that stunt…" She then mumbled as she crouched slightly. "Or me for following him." She finished as she ran forward, grabbed a rope and screamed as she swung forward, Hastily releasing the rope she barely grabbed the next and swung above Naruto before letting go.

Seeing her Naruto grunted and held his arms out to catch Alice, an amused smirk crossing his lips as her arms wound up around his neck, her emerald eyes wide in fear. "We really got to stop meeting like this babe." Naruto offers cheekily and Alice eyes flared dangerously.

"You… you… You!" She growled out at the blond before breathing in then out. "Put. Me. Down." She growled and Naruto shrugged before doing so once more, still smirking slightly. Once she was on her own two feet, Alice brushed her dress off then twisted on one heel to slap Naruto, knocking him to the ground with a grunt. "Next time, try to be more courteous." She stated while crossing her arms and swiftly made her way over to the old gnome, Naruto grunting as he pushed himself back to his feet, a red mark visible on his face.

Muttering under his breath the blond teen went after Alice, visibly annoyed and angry. _'Note to self, watch mouth around Alice.'_ He inwardly mused as he came to stand beside of Alice, both looking down to the Gnome elder as he puffed his pipe.

"Why do you pursue me to this deserted place?" The old Gnome asked while looking from Naruto to Alice with a raised brow.

"How did you know we were pursuing you?" Naruto questioned and the old gnome looked at them seriously.

"Who else is here? No one, so it must be me you're pursuing." He states with a nod of his head and Naruto figures his logic is better than some.

"We've come to benefit from your wisdom good sir." Alice replied while rolling on her heels for a bit, unable to keep fully still. Ten years being chained to a bed and locked in a padded room will do that to a person after all…

"Even blurred vision is valued by the blind. If I were clever, would I cower in this slagheap? I'm not wise girl… I've just grown old." The old gnome says and Naruto rubs his chin for a moment.

"But with age comes knowledge, knowledge we don't have." Naruto muses with a sly smirk and the gnome gives him a one eyed look.

"Between the three of us, the only clever fellow I see around here is your blond friend." The old gnome notes and Alice gives Naruto a slight look, still annoyed with him for the "Babe" crack…

"Perhaps but he can't grant my wish, but a few have said that you can." She offers in reply and the old gnome raised a brow in confusion. "I wish to get very small you see. No bigger than a mouse. Do you know how I might do that?" Alice questioned and the old gnome stroked his short white beard for a moment.

"Only that? Oh yes, I could manage that…" The gnome mused before licking his lips and nodding his head. "… For a price." The old gnome finished and Naruto frowned while crossing his arms.

"I don't like the sound of that…" Naruto states and Alice gives him a look before shaking her head.

"I have nothing of value." She tells the old gnome and he looks at them both.

"Now that's not true. You both have your nerve and health. Mine are nearly gone. I've seen too much suffering… and I smoke too much you see." The old gnome explained while looking around warily for Card Guards.

"What must we do?" Alice questioned and the old Gnome puffed his pipe once more, Naruto mentally sighing at the sight. _'Kind of reminds me of Jiji…'_ He thought as a sad frown crossed his features at memories of the old Hokage's passing…

"Behind me is a corridor leading to a Compound belonging to the Card-Guard. In the Card-Guards compound, a particularly rough Diamond holds the key. Retrieve it. I will… repay the favor." The old gnome explained before puffing on his pipe once more.

"What do we do when we get the key?" Naruto questioned with a raised brow and the old man puffed his pipe once more.

"Meet me back here. And do hurry, the Card-Guard have been on the lookout at all times. Black Creatures have been attacking recently." The old man said before he suddenly vanished in a shower of sparks, much to Naruto's surprise.

"Okay how did he do that?" Naruto wondered and Alice shrugged her shoulders and then reached into her pinafore and looked at her knife.

"Off we go then." She says to herself before rushing into the compound, Naruto sighing as he followed after her. Turning left as they wondered the corridor, Naruto spotted a Danger sign above them. Twisting and turning around a few rocks they soon came to a cart and Naruto looked around before waving his arms forward.

"Ladies first." He offered and Alice gave him a look before hopping onto the cart, Naruto following her. Crossing her arms Alice huffed slightly while the cart was lifted upwards by an elevator system. Coming to the top Alice yelped as she lost her footing on the coal in the cart and fell backwards, bumping into Naruto and knocking them both down to their Asses. "Uh… Alice…" Naruto said slowly and Alice blinked then blushed brightly when she realized she was leaning back into the blond teens chest. Quickly leaning forward Alice huffed and crossed her arms.

"What's with her?" Naruto wondered while the cart started to move down a track. Naruto noted that this part of the mine was fairly dark, sparsely placed lanterns being all that was lighting their way. However, ahead of them several rocks came tumbling down from the ceiling, knocking some tracks down. As they came closer to it, Alice's eyes widened before she felt the cart nearly jump, knocking her back into Naruto once more. Cursing Naruto wrapped his arms around Alice, only for them to land back on the next set of tracks.

Blinking both looked around and then Alice looked upwards and gave a look to Naruto. "Must you have your hands on me in someway all the time?" She questioned flatly and Naruto blinked before giving her a look.

"What? I was just trying to make sure you didn't fall princess!" Naruto states and Alice sighed before rubbing her head.

"Yes, I know… as I said before please excuse any rudeness as I'm not myself right now…" Alice mumbled softly and spotted another rock coming down up ahead. Widening her eyes she backed up into Naruto as they were pushed into the air once more, then both widened their eyes at the sight of a drop up ahead.

"Oh shit!" Naruto cursed while grabbing Alice by the waist and flipped back, off of the cart and took hold of the broken Tracks above them… "Lets agree not to do that ever again." Naruto states and Alice nodded her head, hanging onto the blond with her arms around his neck. Looking down, both watched their cart fall into a pit of acid and paled greatly…

"Hold still while I climb up." Alice then mumbled while climbing up the blond teen, stepping on his head and making him grunt.

"Hey! Will you watch those heels!?" He growled as she climbed up onto the walkway holding the tracks up. "Now could you help me up?" Naruto questioned but Alice was silent for a moment.

"Sorry, but I have something else I need to deal with. Please hold on for a minute longer." Alice replied while another Card-Guard came running at her, this one having a Club symbol though was dressed the same as the first, the tip of its weapon shaped like a club with spikes jutting out of it. Sighing, Alice twirled the Vorpal blade in one hand while looking at the card, crouching down she watched it rush towards her.

'_Who cars for you? You're nothing but a pack of cards!'_ Alice remembered saying once when she was a child, saying it to the cards when they tried to capture her for the Queen of Hearts. _'Things certainly have changed since then, but they're still nothing but a pack of cards… not people… and I can't kill them if their not people… Right?'_ Alice reasoned, a demented looking smile crossing over her features as the Club stabbed its weapon forward. Alice quickly blocked it's attack to the side with her Vorpal blade and then lashed out, a scream echoing from the Club as she sliced it cleanly down the middle, separating its torso from its legs.

"Hey, Alice! A little help would really be appreciated over here!" Naruto called out when she finished and Alice blinked, watching as the corpse of the Card turned into a piece of Meta-Essence… _'See, people don't turn into that; people would just stay on the ground as corpses. These things aren't people, so it should be okay to kill them if they want to kill me.'_ Alice reasoned to herself once more, eyes going slightly wide as the demented smile never left her lips…

"Seriously, Alice! I could use some help here!" Naruto called out once more, breaking Alice from her dark thoughts. Sighing slightly, Alice cleaned her Vorpal Blade on her pinafore and turned back to Naruto.

"Alright, just hold still a moment." Alice said while stabbing the Vorpal blade into the wood of the walkway and grabbed one of Naruto's arms with both hands. Grunting a pulling, Alice pulled Naruto part of the way up and he pulled himself up after that, panting and sighing in relief when he was on solid ground again.

"I hate mines…" He mumbled under his breath while Alice pulled the Vorpal Blade from the wood and stood up.

"Come now, no reason to lollygag around here is there?" Alice quipped and Naruto gave her a look before pushing himself back to his feet and pulled his Keyblades from his back. Making their way forward, Alice spotted some cards lying nearby and looked to them with a raised brow. "Curiouser and Curiouser." She noted softly before walking over to pick up the cards and gasped when she cut her fingers on them.

"What the hell?" Naruto questioned while walking over to Alice and looking one of the cards over for a moment. "Their metal… and razor sharp." He noted with no small amount of surprise, though conceded inwardly they would be the perfect weapons for a hidden ninja in a casino of some sort… As he mused onwards, Cheshire suddenly popped up once more, still grinning as he looked to Alice as she sucked her cut finger.

"52 pickup is a staple of juvenile humor. But when the deck slices and dices its no laughing matter." The Cheshire Cat said darkly and Alice slowly nodded her head in agreement, then looked to Naruto and took the card he was looking at back and placed the deck into one of her pockets.

"Cheshire Puss, which one of these doors is to the Card-Guards compound?" Alice questioned and Cheshire merely waved to a door behind her before vanishing, his grin all that was remaining for a moment.

"He just loves doing that, doesn't he." Naruto notes with a shake of his head and looks to Alice, the girl looking to him before both turned to the door. "So, how many do you think they have waiting for us?" The blond asked and Alice merely picked her fingernails with the knife for a moment.

"Given how few thus far I'd say they're fairly spread out looking for those "Black Creatures" the Elder mentioned." Alice mused as they walked to the door and slowly pushed it open to find a short corridor… another door at the end.

"Why is this world so weird?" Naruto had to ask and Alice looked at him.

"Honestly, I've never really thought about that…" She admitted and Naruto gave her a look before sighing as he remembered she was clinically insane.

"Lets just go get that key and leave…" Naruto mumbled while walking forward, Alice following him as he slowly pushed the next-door open. Both peeking through the doorway frowned when they saw two Clubs, ahead of them. "You think you can handle the Diamond while I deal with those two?" Naruto questioned and Alice blinked, before nodding her head, reminding herself they weren't people inwardly. "Good, then lets go!" Naruto said before rushing forward, the two clubs spotting him lunged forward while Alice slipped away.

Grinning Naruto jumped over a jab by one of the Clubs and then blocked the attack of the other with Dark-Soldier. Spinning on one heel Naruto stabbed into the Club with Dark-Heart and watched as a Neo-Shadow appeared from a cloud of Darkness seconds later. _'I wonder how it does that…'_ Naruto wondered to himself before rolling to the side to evade a thrust by the other Club, the card man scowling down at him. "C'mon skinny, show me what you got." Naruto taunted with a grin as the Card-Guard rushed him with its weapon, the nearby newborn Neo-Shadow lunging at it with Naruto…

As Naruto dealt with them, Alice climbed a set of stairs before spotting the Diamond, it having red instead of black on with a diamond shaped blade at the tip of its own weapon. Spotting the girl the Diamond growled and held its staff in both hands. A glow surrounded the tip for a moment before a series of glowing red card came flying at Alice. Gasping the girl rolled to one side to avoid the cards as they dug into the ground where she had been only a second before.

'_Not people, people can't hurl red hot sharp cards at you, kill them… they threaten you, attack what threatens and provokes you!'_ Alice told herself as her eyes took on a demented quality once more. Breathing heavily the girl turned slightly, flipping the Vorpal Blade and catching it by its tip she threw the blade at the diamond. Cursing the diamond dodged to the side at the last second before firing more of its cards at her new location.

Ducking to one side once more Alice pulled her cards from her pinafore and threw a handful at the Diamond. Unlike the Vorpal-Blades, Alice felt a bit of strength leave her when she did, but the cards seemed to home in on the Card, causing it to explode in a shower of gore. Standing up, Alice blinked before spotting a heart shaped bit of Meta-Essence nearby, walking over to it, Alice felt her strength return as it glowed and then flowed into her body…

'_Wait… how can Meta-Essence do that? I'm not even from Wonderland, how can it empower me?'_ Alice wondered to herself before shaking her head, turning she saw Naruto finishing the other club, turning it into a black thing with yellow eyes like the last few, causing a small pang to befall her. _'He doesn't kill them… just changes their forms… but their still not people.'_ She notes before shaking her head and wonders up the steps, and then walks over to where her Vorpal-Blade was lodged into the wall and pulled it out. Seeing some meta-essence where the card-guard's bloody remains should have been only survived to fuel Alice's conviction of the Cards not being people.

Walking over to a Table however, Alice spotted a key with a skull and picked it up. Looking it over she hummed for a moment before looking to Naruto as he walked towards her, humming a nameless tune. "Why are you so happy?" She questioned flatly and Naruto gave a grin in response.

"Because this is the first mission I've ever been on where nothing has gone horribly wrong within the first hour." Naruto replied happily and Alice gave him a look before sighing.

"C'mon, we should get back to the elder with this key." Alice states while stowing the key into her spare pocket and Naruto gives her a look.

"Encase you've forgotten Alice, the cart fell into some acid, and I doubt they go backwards as well." Naruto reminds and Alice stopped to nod her head and consider their options for a moment. Looking around, Alice saw an open door on the floor above them and raised a brow in intrigue.

"Curiouser and curiouser." She mumbled while walking up the steps, Naruto following behind her as she did. Coming to the door, Naruto and Alice saw a swirling green vortex of some kind.

"Think its safe?" Naruto asked and Alice decided she didn't care so long as she wasn't there when more Card-Guards showed up.

"Don't rightly matter so long as we're not here when the Card-Guard return." She states and Naruto concedes her point before taking her hand.

"On the count of three then." He states and Alice nodded her head. "One." The blond said and Alice took a breath. "Two." He said as they both got ready to jump through the portal. "Three!" He called out and the both lunged forward, a sinking feeling going through them as they ended up in a doorway. "Well… that wasn't so bad." Naruto mused quietly before watching as a set of bars raised up at the end of the corridor they'd appeared in.

"We should hurry, we have no more time to lose." Alice suddenly stated while walking forward, Naruto tilting his head before sighing and following her. Spotting a club's spear heading for Alice a second later the blond teen cursed and yanked her back by her Pinafores ribbon. Spotting the club Alice growled and then sliced it's head off with a swing of her arm, Naruto looking at her and it in shock as its body fell to the ground then turned into more meta-essence…

"Uh… Alice?" Naruto questioned warily and the girl gave him a casual look.

"What? It was a card, not a person." She reasoned with a shrug and Naruto merely watched her slowly look out of their current hiding space before frowning. "Two Diamonds are out there waiting for us… but I can see where we need to meet the Elder from here." Alice murmured to herself before pulling her cards out and stowing the Vorpal-Blade away, sticking its blade into the ribbon of her Pinafore. Quickly stepping out Alice then threw a handful of Cards towards the first Diamond, evading an exploding card as it did so. Stopping the girl then threw a second handful and moved to one side to evade another exploding card from the second.

The cards soared through the air, then sliced and diced the two Diamonds, leaving a bloody rain in their wake before turning into Meta-Essence. "There, all done." Alice mused while putting the cards away and absorbing the Meta-essence from the club. Idly noting her pocket felt like it was full like when she'd first started carrying the cards, though she'd already used roughly fifteen of them.

"Alice, are you feeling alright?" Naruto asked and Alice tilted her head to one side before nodding. "Okay, just making sure…" Naruto mumbled as Alice looked around then jumped over a small bit of acid and onto a nearby rock. Wondering over to a rope, Alice then climbed up towards the walkway where the elder was waiting for them. Sighing, Naruto followed after the girl, jumping over the acid and then climbing up the rope he spotted the Elder waving them over as he jumped through a doorway and into vortex like they had only a minute or two before.

Climbing onto the walkway Naruto watched Alice collect more Meta-Essence and stop to look at her hands curiously. Shrugging the girl wandered to the doorway with the vortex, Naruto following after her and walking through. Coming out at a tower Naruto saw the old Elder working on what looked like a combination of a blimp, a large basket, and a bicycle of sorts floating in the air. _'Aw shit… I hate flying more than I hate those mines…'_ Naruto mentally grumbled while the elder turned to look at them.

"You have the key?" He questioned and Alice pulled the object from her pocket, making the old man grin. "Good. Very resourceful. It seems that Rabbit's confidence is not misplaced. He is no fool." The Elder says while hopping onto the bicycle portion of his odd contraption and Alice frowned.

"I certainly hope he's not." Alice mumbles to herself while entering the basket portion of the contraption with her blond companion. Naruto merely nodding his head in agreement with the auburn haired girl's words as they took off into the air.

"Use the key to free my clan from the oppressive burden that they carry. Any fight against the Queen's tyranny is a good fight. They've suffered…" The elder started to say only for Alice to turn and interrupt him with a frown.

"I'm sure I'm very sorry for them, sir. Really, I am. But what about me getting small?" Alice questioned with a frown and Naruto sighed, rubbing his face at the girl's rude interruption and lack of any concern for the wellbeing of others… _'Then again… she is insane.'_ The blond reminded himself as they journeyed farther into the depths of this strange place they called "Wonderland"…

--

(World that never was…)

The cloaked old man grunted while dodging a Chakram covered in flames. Then lunged forward and slashed into Axel, knocking him back and into a wall. The red haired Nobody then fell forward with a grunt, his weapons falling to the ground. "Too bad… I was hoping for more of a challenge." The old man mused as he pulled the Bond of Flame from his cloak and held it at his side. Panting, the Absent Silhouette lunged at the old man once more, swinging one of his Chakram at him.

Grinning, the old man held a hand up and sent an ice spell into his chest, freezing him instantly and causing him to fall to the ground. "Powerful, but foolish." The old man mused before looking to the Bond of Flame's Keychain with an amused expression over his face. The keychain suddenly started to glow with an almost flame like red light, chuckling the old man held the Bond of Flame out and a light consumed the frozen Absent Silhouette.

Seconds later the glowing Absent Silhouette flew into the Bond of Flame. The keychain began to glow even more fiercely than it had been, fire spinning around it as the old man tossed the Keychain into the air. As he did the keychain changed, glowing it split in two and the old man reached out to his sides to take hold of Axel's Chakrams. "Yes… now only the body and soul are needed…" The old man murmured to himself while backing up into a Dark Corridor… he still had more work to do.

--

(Broken Wonderland…)

Naruto seriously didn't like this; riding in the flying bicycle basket thing was kind of like tittering dangerously close to the edge of a cliff. Currently he and Alice were both scrunched up in the basket, both of them blushing due to how close they had to be to one another. The elder was peddling behind them, having a surprising amount of vigor still in him considering his age. Stopping those thoughts Naruto watched a Tower pass and could swear he saw a psychotic looking child jump from it and try to grab them, only to fall into a dark abyss below them.

"There's a Skool, inside the fortress, where you will find certain items for creating a concoction that will make you small." The elder explained as they saw a large fortress up ahead, making Naruto frown slightly.

"What items exactly?" Alice questioned, practically reading her blond companions mind while turning her head towards the elder.

"Items. Items, girl. You'll know them when you see them." The elder stated and Naruto mentally twitched and crossed his arms over his chest. _'Or in layman's terms, he has no fucking clue either…'_ Naruto mused as he saw the massive Fortress of Doors up ahead clearer than ever, a thick five foot wall surrounding something with a massive doorway at the front of it.

"Speaking of seeing things, we should avoid the card guards' notice, hang on…" The elder said then started only to frown and look to the side, cursing as several Card-Guards ran out of the fortress and started to shoot at them. "Errr, Dammit, we've been seen!" He growled out and steered the ship to one side, away from the Card-Guard as they continued to lay heavy fire on them. Turning the airship around he flew them around the first wall to see the true fortress, which was much smaller with a massive building in the center, swerving back and forth unevenly.

Evading more Card-Guard as they continued to fire, the elder brought them down on the eastern side of the building and grunted. "Eventually, you must break through such walls… but for now, Jump!" The elder ordered and Naruto wrapped an arm around Alice's waist and hoisted them both up before jumping from the ship, landing on his feet in a crouch with Alice beside him. Breathing out a sigh of relief Naruto then stood up and Alice did the same, brushing off her dress.

"Well that was a rather interesting experience." Alice mused and Naruto shrugged his shoulders with disinterest.

"Eh, I've been through weirder." He stated and Alice gave him an odd look for a moment before deciding she didn't want to know.

"Now I have to wonder, how we're supposed to get in?" Alice wondered and Naruto shrugged, before soon spotting the Cheshire Cat, making him roll his eyes.

"I don't know, but I know who will…" Naruto mumbled and Alice nodded her head before walking to the cat.

"Hello Cheshire Puss, you wouldn't happen to know a way in would you?" Alice questioned and Cheshire merely grinned.

"Protective walls may impede you, but the most difficult walls to penetrate are those to our hearts." The cat offered with a grin before vanishing, leaving both of his charges completely confused.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again that is one seriously weird cat." Naruto stated simply and Alice nodded her head before making her way to a hole nearby. Walking forward she and Naruto turned through the hole and into the Fortress's wall and spotted the "Skool" as it tilted back and forth. Looking around Alice saw that the way to the skool was blocked by a massive hole in the ground…

"Think you could jump us over?" Alice questioned and Naruto looked at it then shook his head with a serious frown marring his features.

"The grounds too unstable around here, chances are we'd fall to our deaths if I tried it. I'd rather be safe than sorry around here Alice, the rules of nature and logic don't seem to apply to much of anything." He explained then mused and Alice slowly nodded her head, understanding what he meant and then sighed as she climbed some rubble, Naruto following behind her. Turning into a doorway, Alice was pulled back by Naruto when a strange ghost like creature shrieked at her.

The creature had an almost skull like face with sharp teeth, its empty sockets seeming to glow violently, adorned in black and red dresses the beings held no feet but did have a grey skin tone with not even a single hair and silver poofy sleeves at their shoulders. Spotting Cheshire once more they watched the cat as it narrowed its eyes on the floating ghost like creatures.

"That savage shriek is just the tip of the iceberg that is the Boojum's repulsive personality. Also, always remember that Boojum's have revolting table manners. They'll eat anything. Dispose of them, or become a meal." Cheshire explained quickly before vanishing and Naruto looked to Alice, the girl twitching as she saw the ghost like creatures called "Boojum's".

'_Boojum's… not people… they look like ghosts, so they must already be dead. I can't kill the dead, they're not people, their already dead, so I can't kill them even if I try.'_ Alice reasoned with herself, eyes going wide and psychotic as she did so.

"Alice, I'll take one, you take the other, sound alright?" Naruto questioned and Alice merely nodded her head while fingering her Vorpal-Blade. Releasing Alice, Naruto ran into the room, drawing both his Keyblades he lunged at one of the Boojum's. The creature reared its head back as he did so, a shriek echoing from its mouth and knocking him back by the sheer volume and force of it. _'Ugh… Oto-Nin would kill for a creature like this…'_ Naruto noted while pushing himself back up with a shake of his head, then rolled out of the way of another shriek.

Meanwhile Alice slowly walked into the room, eyes wide with insanity as she looked at the Boojum. The Boojum went soaring towards her but Alice quickly flicked her Vorpal-Blade up and caught it by the tip. Swinging her arm the blade sang through the air before digging into the Boojum, causing it to shriek in pain before pulling in a quick breath. Shocked Alice rushed to the side to avoid another shriek coming towards her then pulled her cards from her pinafore once more.

'_It's not a person, people die when you stab them… they aren't even real, and if it's trying to kill me, it shouldn't be allowed to even exist!'_ Alice began to think her psychotic eyes taking more and more of an eerie glow as she twisted from behind a pillar and threw a few cards at the Boojum, causing it to shriek into the air as it fell to the ground, dieing in a burst of flames and leaving only some Meta-Essence and the Vorpal-Blade behind. Walking over to the items she absorbed the Meta-Essence and picked up her knife, stowing her cards away before turning back to Naruto as he threw his Keyblade, causing it to spin and slice through the Boojum before it returned to his hand.

"Nice! Now how'd I do that?" Naruto said then asked while looking at Dark-Heart and Alice couldn't help a girlish giggle before watching the Boojum change, a Dark-Ball now in its place before that vanished as well. Smiling she would have said something had the floor not started to split apart, looking to one side both teens jumped over to it and then up a flight of stairs while the room seemed to split in half. "How the hell does this shit keep happening?" Naruto questioned and Alice blushed slightly.

"Please watch you language, I am a Lady." Alice reminded and Naruto rolled his eyes and gave her a look.

"You've probably heard worse now what's going on." Naruto questioned, then gaped when he noticed that the entire room seemed to have been consumed by what appeared to be a blue a violet vortex of some kind.

"I'm truly not sure… but perhaps we should carry on and ask questions later." Alice offers and Naruto sees that a path before them is somehow floating in the air. Sighing at seeing that, the blond held up his hands and hung his head.

"I give up… I'm done trying to figure this place out, lets just go." Naruto grumbles and Alice nods her head before running forward, jumping onto the platform and causing it to dip low. "Shit, Alice, head to the other side, I'll jump on when you do!" Naruto ordered and Alice figured it was for a balance instantly and nodded her head. Running across the platform she saw Naruto jump on out of the corner of her eye as she got to the other side. Waiting on her blond companion she was relieved when he landed next to her.

Turning and seeing a floating doorway with a vortex in it, both teens ran for it and jumped in together, Naruto wondering what new hell awaited them…

--

TBC…

--

AN: Idea's for worlds thus far…

Traverse Town / Twilight Town…

Alice in Wonderland / American McGee's Alice…

Tarzan / Lara Croft: Tomb Raider…

Hercules / God of War…

Aladdin / Prince of Persia…

Tim Burton's: The Nightmare Before Christmas / Johnny The Homicidal Maniac…

Peter Pan / Hellsing…

Hollow Bastian / Silent Hill…

Disney Castle / Castle Oblivion…


	10. Fortress of Doors

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 9**_: _**Fortress of Doors**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(??)

A familiar old man marches into Radiant Garden, arms folded behind his back as he walks towards yet another Absent Silhouette. This one is the same colors as the last one, only with what look like four knives in the center, lightning arching around it wildly. Grinning slightly as he reaches out to touch the object, the old man watches as he appears in a new area. This time he finds himself standing on a platform in the middle of a vast black void. Standing across from him however is a woman in an outfit identical to that of Axel, though her sleeves bell out at her arms, and her boots had high heels.

In terms of how she looked physically, the woman had very wide and expressive electric blue eyes, with shoulder length bright blond hair styled into a pair of curved antenna that slanted back along her head to the back of her neck, a cocky smirk adorned her lips and her skin was slightly pale.

"Ah yes, number Twelve of Organization Thirteen, The Savage Nymph herself." The old man noted while reaching up to cup his chin as the woman took a crouched stance, a sadistic grin twisting across her face as for yellow knives with blue tips in the shape of crosses appeared in her hands, held between her fingers and angled like claws. "This should prove a most interesting battle, I've never faced a Ninja of your esteemed caliber in combat before… Larxene…" The man noted quietly before reaching to his side, his Keyblade appearing in hand a second later.

In response the woman merely threw her arms to the side, lightning sparking along her knives while two shadows moved from behind her. Two doppelgangers of the woman taking form, instantly all three giggled while lunging forward, swiping their blades at the old man who deftly evaded the weapons. However one of the other versions of her threw her weapons at the old man, lightning sparking along the blades as he quickly flipped into the center of the arena. Laughing lightly the woman suddenly vanished into thin air, the old man grinning as she did so.

'_Such skill and power, matched with wits and grace, she must have truly been a force to be reckoned with when she was still whole…'_ The man noted before flipping back as Larxene came down from above, swinging her claw like knives quickly. Lashing out instantly, the old man hit Larxene and sent her flying into the air. Jumping up a second later the old man grabbed Larxene by her foot as a second came at him from behind. Grinning the old man turned in midair, slamming the two Larxene's together before throwing an Ice spell to freeze both. Landing with a soft plop a second later the old man turned at a giggle and saw another Larxene come at him from behind, swiping her blades with practiced ease and precision.

Grunting the old man vanished as second later as Larxene looked around with confusion before being sent flying forward by a fire spell. "Don't get too cocky girl." The old man said coldly while Larxene dancingly flipped back to her feet with an amused bow at the end. "Your nothing but a memory and some power…" The old man reminded coldly and then cracked his neck. "You don't even have a body to hold you together…" He stated darkly and Larxene seemed to twitch before holding her arms at her side and slamming her hands together, a burst of lightning shooting towards the man.

Holding a hand out the old man surprisingly caught the lightning before somehow throwing it off to the side. Larxene's already wide expressive eyes going wider still, mostly in shock and even a hint of what seemed to be fear. _'These memories are more expressive than their Nobodies were, possibly because they hold more of their memories as Somebody's and their time as Nobodies? Oh well, thoughts for another day…'_ The old man thought to himself before rolling his shoulders, hearing a crack coming from them before he lunged forward, burying his fist into Larxene's gut and lifting her off the ground a few inches from the force of the punch.

Stepping back a second later and allowing Larxene to fall back on her feet, he watched as she crossed her arms over her gut, eyes wide in pain. Watching the woman stumble backwards for a moment the old man quickly lashed out with a kick to her head. Larxene was sent flying to the side, skidding along the ground before coming to a stop at the edge of their arena. Groaning lightly the blond woman quickly flipped back to her feet, a hand placed onto her stomach with a pained expression.

"Truly impressive my dear, any lesser woman would've never managed to get back up from an attack like that." The old man noted and Larxene's eyes seemed to say she wasn't a lesser anything as she glared at him. "Such beautiful and expressive eyes…" The old man noted while looking at the electric blue orbs. "I wager that, if you had a real heart, you'd never be able to hide a single emotion with eyes like those…" The old man mused aloud and Larxene lunged forward at that moment, teeth gritted in anger and annoyance, splitting into three once more and each lashed out with their knives.

Smirking, the old man vanished before reappearing at the side of their little arena, arms crossed behind his back. "Well now, I do suppose that its time that I truly got serious…" The old man noted coldly as he held his keyblade out, then forced it to turn into a ball of purple fire…

--

(Broken Wonderland…)

Alice and Naruto came out of the portal into a corridor, black and white checker patterned tiles on the floor, twisted and distorted doorways with heavy stonewalls, and of course torches giving the area a rather ominous feel. "I've got a bad feeling about this…" Naruto noted quietly and Alice gave him a look before sighing as she walked down into the Corridor, Naruto following her. Walking out of the corridor, Alice stopped and looked around what appeared to be a maze.

"And I don't even really like mazes…" Alice noted quietly before sighing and turning, spotting a pedestal with something sitting on it. "Curiouser and Curiouser…" She mumbled while walking over to the pedestal, Naruto still following after her.

"Alice, I really don't think this is the best place to be…" Naruto stated while looking around warily, shadows moving to and fro behind the pillars around them.

"Don't worry, I'll only be a moment." Alice stated while walking to the pedestal and climbed up onto it. The odd object she found an oddly designed object, a diamond shape at the bottom, with a square box like shape forming the rest of it, with a cylinder escaping the top that with a ruby at the top, all of which was made of an odd stone with jagged curls forged as a part of ruby red glass, a bubbling red froth visible within it.

"Now what do you suppose this is?" Alice wondered aloud then spotted the Card Guard around her and Naruto.

"Shit! Where did these guys come from?" Naruto wondered as roughly a dozen Card Guards came at him and Alice from the Shadows. As they did, The Cheshire Cat reappeared and then leapt onto the object Alice had seen, instantly the object unfolded, forming several spikes before spraying an odd mist. Alice turned just in time for the strange red mist to spray her before backing up, the object vanishing as Alice fell to her knees, hands over her face.

"Time to raise some Havoc! The Dogs of War are Loose!" The Cheshire Cat said darkly before vanishing as Alice's skin turned a deep bloody red. Meanwhile, as this happened Naruto blocked one of the incoming Card Guards and then twisted on his heel to slice it with his Dark-Heart, a Neo-Shadow popping into existence while two more Card Guards jumped at him from above. Cursing and rolling out of the way Naruto lunged at them once more, lashing out with a kick to knock one back before slashing Dark-Heart through it, another Neo-Shadow popping into existence.

While Naruto dealt with the Cards, Alice grunted and groaned while her left hand morphed, fingers lengthening into long skeletal looking talons, two massive spikes grew from her back to curl over her shoulders, and a pair of curling grey horns sprouted from the sides of her head. Slowly standing afterwards, Alice unleashed a demonic roar while her now coal black eyes looked around furiously, her body giving off an eerie red glow. Turning at the sound Naruto saw Alice and instantly took several steps away from her while she lashed out.

Lunging forward, the girl slashed through one Card-Guard with her clawed hand, then twisted on her heel throwing the Vorpal-Blade at another. Growling the girl narrowed her coal black eyes onto another, only seeing red as she lunged forward and ripped the cards head from his shoulders. _**'Kill… Kill… Kill… Kill what threatens or frightens you…'**_ Alice's own voice whispered into her mind as she lunged at another card, grabbing her Vorpal-Blade along the way and stabbed it in the heart before twisting on her heel and slashing another card in half, his legs and torso falling away from one another as his legs continued to run around.

"Shit… someone's having a very bad day…" Naruto noted with wide eyes as the demonic Alice suddenly grabbed a card guard, lifted him up kicking and screaming then threw the Vorpal-Blade into him point blank, sending him flying back and pinning him to a wall to bleed to death. Looking around, Naruto didn't see anymore Card-Guards, thus snapped his fingers, the Neo-Shadows he'd made vanishing into thin air. Upon hearing the sound, Alice's wide, psychotic eyes snapped over to him, before she suddenly started to breath normally as her skin returned to normal, as did her eyes and body.

Panting heavily Alice looked around, watching the Card-Guard's corpses turn into Meta-Essence once more. Looking to the wide-eyed Naruto, she briefly wondered why he seemed so disturbed. Shaking her head of that, the girl walked over to her Vorpal-Blade and pulled it out of the stone and absorbed some Meta-Essence into herself. "Well, c'mon now, we don't have all day to dillydally." Alice stated and then walked off, Naruto slowly following after the girl.

'_Wow… well, everyone has their Inner Demons, but with Alice… it can kill you…'_ Naruto couldn't help but think to himself while following Alice, and also inwardly planning to keep her the hell away from anymore of those odd relics. Following Alice around a few turns, they eventually came to a door with a torch above it. Moving ahead of the girl, Naruto opened the door and frowned when he saw more doors. "This looks like it'll be annoying." Naruto mused before walking forward, pushing upon door after door until finally coming out of the short corridor.

What he saw now however was far worse as the area seemed to be floating in a blue and purple void, a giant doorway opened up before passing over and around them. However, even stranger was the fact that the floor was completely missing, and the next gate seemed to be on the other side of a vast expanse. "Oh dear… this won't do at all." Alice said while walking to look at their newest problem and Naruto sighed before crossing his arms and took a thoughtful expression.

"When in doubt, a leap of faith may show the way to truth." Naruto mumbled to himself before blinking. _'I just channeled that freaky cat didn't I?'_ He thought with a twitch before walking forward, taking a step off of the floor and felt himself make contact. Opening one eye and looking down, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the floor was somehow moving. Looking to Alice he watched her cautiously walk forward before setting foot on the floor with him.

"This is by far the strangest floor I've ever seen." She stated and Naruto shrugged his shoulders before walking forward. Several Pieces of the floor suddenly rising up for them to walk along as they made their way towards the gate. "You know… you sounded like Cheshire Puss for a moment back there." Alice suddenly noted while giving Naruto a look and the blond gave a Cheshire Cat grin in response.

"Really now? I hadn't noticed." Naruto said sarcastically before placing his hands into his pockets as he hurried along his way. Huffing Alice stomped forward and gave the blond boy a sidelong glare.

"You don't have to be so snippy, it was just an observation." Alice stated and Naruto gave her an amused look.

"Observing too much leads to straining your eyes, sometimes its better to leave things be. I for one find it better to leave well enough alone and concentrate on the here and now." Naruto told Alice with a shrug of his shoulders and she gave him a funny look.

"You did it again." She stated and Naruto blinked then frowned.

"Being on this world is turning me into the freaky cat I swear!" He grumbled while coming onto the ground at the other side of the expanse. Seeing the gate the two teens made their way forward and entered, vanishing into its depths soon after. Walking out into a new area, Naruto stopped when he heard three tones suddenly sound. "Did you hear that?" Naruto questioned and Alice nodded her head slowly.

"What do you think it means?" She questioned and Naruto shrugged his shoulders before looking around. They were in another void, another door opening to swallow the area. He also saw another wide expanse before them, making him cringe before noting a small fortress like area as, he also saw a pedestal to the side with a stairway beside it.

"C'mon Alice, lets get through this place before I go crazy." Naruto states and Alice actually smirks towards him as they descended the stairs.

"Oh its too late for that, we're all mad here." She offers ominously before giggling slightly and Naruto gave her a look as they came to a pillar just a ways down the stairs. "Cheshire Puss told me that when I first came to Wonderland. I've always wanted to do it to someone else though." Alice admitted playfully and Naruto rolled his eyes while turning then cursed and backed into the side of the pillar as a pair of Boojums shrieked at them.

"Boojums." Naruto stated with a scowl and Alice frowned deeply.

"Annoying Ghosts, they should learn to mind their own business!" Alice insisted before gripping her Vorpal-Blade's handle tightly. "Now lets go teach them some manners shall we!" Alice then stated and Naruto blinked as she went passed him and then ran towards the Boojums.

"Well… nobody lives forever." Naruto noted before rushing into the fray as well, pulling Dark-Soldier from his back and then throwing Dark-Heart like a boomerang at a Boojum, instantly changing it into a Dark-Ball. As he did, Alice threw her Knife at the other Boojum, nailing it in the skull before quickly throwing some of her cards at it, slicing it into pieces instantly. Finished with those, Naruto resheathed his Keyblades and saw three nearby levers, the Cheshire Cat appearing beside them with his eternal grin.

"The proper order of things is often a mystery to me, you too?" Cheshire questioned before vanishing with a nudge towards the levers and Naruto frowned.

"What do you suppose what all that meant then?" Alice wondered and Naruto crossed his arms and frowned in thought for a moment. Tapping one bicep Naruto walked forward to the lever on the far right and reached out, pulling it, he heard a familiar tone.

"That's what he meant. Each lever makes the same tones that we heard when we first entered. I bet if we use the proper order the next door will open." Naruto stated and Alice slowly nodded her head before frowning.

"But what's the proper order of things then?" She asked with a thoughtful expression and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Not sure, but the lever I just pulled made the first tone, so one of these next two must make the second tone." Naruto stated and Alice nodded her head before looking at the center lever.

"Think it's a side to side order?" She asked and Naruto frowned before shaking his head.

"Too obvious." He stated and she had to concede his point there.

"Then that leaves only the side lever." She stated while walking over to the lever on the far left. Reaching out the girl pulled it down as well, the second tone sounding loudly through the air.

"Nice. Now lets pull this last one and get out of here." Naruto stated before he and Alice pulled the last lever, the third and final tone sounding out. Looking around Naruto sighed before seeing pieces of floor rising up to the floor above them. "C'mon Alice, we have to go back up…" Naruto mumbled and Alice frowned slightly, agitation clearly setting in at this point.

"You'd think that after all this time, Wonderland would become a might bit more simple." She muttered as they climbed back up the stairs and walked along yet another moving floor to the next gate. However at spotting some card guards Naruto looked over to Alice. "What?" The girl asked and Naruto crossed his arms.

"Well you're the only one here with projectile weapons…" He reminded and Alice huffed slightly before walking ahead of him, tossing her Vorpal-Blade into the air and then catching its tip easily. "Damn… girls got skill…" Naruto muttered since it was no easy feat to catch a sharp knife by its tip without cutting oneself. Following after Alice, Naruto watched her flip her knife in hand a few more times before throwing it forward, nailing the Diamond Card Guard he'd seen early between the eyes…

"There, happy now?" Alice asked irritably and Naruto blinked.

"When did you get so good at that?" Naruto had to ask with an incredulous expression on his face and Alice blinked.

"I… I don't know." She admitted with a disturbed expression clearly visible on her pale features. Hastily making their way to the other gate Alice reclaimed her knife before walking into a Corridor with Naruto following behind her. Spotting the next gate Alice gasped and ducked to the side, a Diamond Card-Guard firing red-hot cards at them.

"Great, we don't have time for this." Naruto muttered before pulling Dark-Heart from his back, then lunged out and threw the weapon at the card-guard, slicing through it and creating another Neo-Shadow, the heartless quickly vanishing once it had appeared. Getting back up, Naruto caught his Keyblade and blinked while Alice gave him a dirty look with her arms crossed.

"No projectile weapons eh?" She questioned pointedly and Naruto sighed.

"Mine don't have the range of yours…" He reminds and Alice huffs before making her way to the next gate. "Honestly, there's no winning with this girl!" Naruto grumbled while following Alice through the gate. Both appeared in another room seemingly consumed by a voice, the floor before them suddenly turning before it rose up into the air like several puzzle pieces as the room itself seemed to rise up and grow in height to mock them…

"You know… that doesn't surprise me at all." Naruto noted and Alice nodded her head, long used to the fantastic happening in Wonderland. Carrying on, Alice jumped onto a piece of floor only for Naruto to pick her up. Glaring at the boy as he did Alice clenched her fists.

"Put me down!" She shouted and Naruto gave her a look.

"No can do Princess, I'm not waiting for you to jump and fall all the way to the top. We're going my way." Naruto stated before crouching and lunging forward, jumping onto the next piece of wall as it came up. Turning the blond "Kick-Jumped" for lack of a better word off the side of another piece of the floor and flipped in the air before landing on the next piece. Not wasting a beat the blond then ran forward, kick jumped onto the next piece and then flipped over to stand before the next gate.

Putting Alice down, Naruto noted that the girl had a particularly frazzled appearance about her. "You okay?" Naruto questioned with a raised brow and Alice gave him another pointed look.

"Never do that again…" She ordered before walking down into the next corridor and then straight through the next gate. Sighing as she did, Naruto shook his head and followed after her, walking through the gate and hoping that they'd be done with this crazy place soon…

--

(Radiant Garden…)

Larxene tried to pull herself away from the old man, eyes wide before her leg was grabbed and she was pulled back over to him. Casually, the old man threw the girl into the air and then lashed out, slamming a fist into her gut then kicking her, sending her flying back. Landing in a heap, the beaten, battered and bruised former Organization Member looked towards the old man as he walked over to her, a slim smirk visible along his lips.

"Impressive girl, your durability is to be admired." The old man mused while reaching up to stroke his chin. Truly, that was an understatement, the girl had withstood blow after blow with a surprising tenacity. It was almost like she couldn't stop, like she didn't want the fight to end. _'Perhaps she doesn't wish to return to Darkness… that wish I can grant…'_ The old man mused before stalking over to Larxene, only mildly surprised when she started to push herself back up to her feet, huffing and puffing for breath.

Pulling her weapons, The Foudre, back out and holding them between her fingers, arms hanging at her sides as she fell to her knees. Chuckling, the old man reached into his cloak while Larxene looked up at him defiantly. "Do not worry dear girl, you won't be returning to Darkness…" The old man said cryptically while revealing the Shock Charm, Larxene looking at it in surprise as it started to glow. Seconds later the woman vanished and a ball of light shot into the Shock-Charm, thus causing it to change as well.

Reaching to his sides the old man caught Larxene's Foudre weapons in his hands and nodded his head before hiding them in his cloak. Seconds later, the world changed back into the Radiant Garden, the old man smirking as he looked around. "There, now I only need to revive you both, so you may aide us in the coming war." The old man said mostly to himself before stopping and looking to one side. "I feel a foul wind is blowing…" He noted and then narrowed his amber gold eyes.

"So… they move to intercept you already Naruto… our true enemy finally approaches. Those Blinded by Light, The Soulless…" The old man said mostly to himself before vanishing into a Dark Corridor…

--

TBC…

--

AN: Some people asked why I choose the worlds I did, here's my reasoning.

God of War / Hercules: Kratos and Hercules are both sons of Zeus, but while the Zeus of Hercs world cares for his son, the Zeus of Kratos' world hates him. Herc has beaten Hades in a fight, Kratos has beaten Persephone, Ares, and a few others. Herc was a friend of Medusa while Kratos killed her. Herc was friends with Icarus while Kratos killed him and stole his wings. Basically, the two worlds are near opposites of one another, though Kratos' world is more accurate in the depiction of ancient Grecian gods.

Tomb Raider / Tarzan: Honestly, this one was hard to place seeing as there is very few Jungle themed games, that I've played at least. However, I went with Lara because she was raised in civilization while Tarzan was in the Jungle. Lara often kills animals and people when she needs too and will use guns, Tarzan has only ever killed Sabor and Clayton, and he also refuses to use guns. Lara technically steals from ruins in the Jungle, while Tarzan protects everything in the jungles, including ruins. Thus, they seem to parallel one another perfectly…

Prince of Persia / Aladdin: Do I really need to go on about this one?

JTHM / Nightmare Before Christmas: Jack and Nny are similar in a lot of ways. Both are tall, skinny, and have an affinity for the bizarre. However, Jack is the King of Screams, Nny is the King of Killers, Jack loves to cause people fear, Nny just kills people for one reason or another, Jack is respected in Halloween Town, Nny is thought to be a freak and an outsider by almost everyone where he lives. Thus, they are quite probably one another's Other…

Silent Hill / Hallow Bastion: Hallow Bastion is a world that was pulled into Darkness by Xehanorts Heartless AKA Ansem, or Xemnas, the people either escaped or were turned into Heartless. Silent Hill was pulled into the nightmares of Alessa when she was burned alive, the people of the city mostly becoming misshapen monsters. Both worlds were turned into darkened versions of what they were, however, unlike Hallow Bastion which gets better, Silent Hill gets worse as it turns into the Nightmare World seen in most versions of Silent Hill.

Hellsing / Peter Pan: Here's the Reason. Peter is a boy who never wanted to grow up, thus went to Neverland. Alucard however became immortal while remaining in our world, and is full-grown and able to take any form he wants. Peter likes to play the hero and protect his lost boys. Alucard could care less about protecting anyone unless ordered too. Peter won't listen to anyone; he will only ever listen to himself. As apposed to that, Alucard is forced to listen to his Master, Sir Integra Wingates Van Helsing, and others. Lastly, when Peter offered Wendy the option to stay in Neverland forever, she refused and went home. Yet, when Alucard offered Seras the chance to continue on living if he killed her, she accepted.

Disney Castle: Okay, I really didn't mean for anyone to take the Castle Oblivion thing seriously. My reasoning was because both are Castles, Evil "The Organization at least" used Castle Oblivion as a base / R&D Location while King Mickey and his group use Disney Castle for many of the same purposes. I don't know much about Epic Mickey or I'd use it, there's barely any information on it as apposed to Castle Oblivion and I'd be annoyed with myself for making a mistake.


	11. The 4th Enemy: The Soulless

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 10**_: _**The 4th Enemy: Soulless**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Broken Wonderland…)

Naruto and Alice had just exited another gate; Naruto rubbing one shoulder as they came out on top of the Battlements of the Fortress of Doors. "Man, could this place get anymore confusing?" Naruto wondered to himself before walking out along the battlements, Alice absently throwing her knife into the air and catching it with one hand.

"Possibly, but I'd really rather not see if it will." Alice stated and Naruto shrugged his shoulders while they walked down the battlements.

"Is it just me, or shouldn't we be seeing some kind of guards up here…" Naruto noted and Alice stopped and looked around, then frowned in thought while holding her Vorpal Blade in one hand.

"You know, I think you might be right." She noted as well and then made her way passed the blond with a thin frown across her lips. Sighing to himself, Naruto walked with Alice down the Battlements, however upon turning at the first corner the two saw a splatter of blood from one of the Card-Guards, some Meta-Essence hovering above it.

"That explains the lack of guards, but what did it?" Naruto wondered and Alice gave him a look.

"So long as it isn't attacking me, I rightly don't care, whatever it is it can destroy as many Cards as it wants." Alice stated with a nod of her head before walking down the battlements, absorbing in the stray Meta-Essence as she did so… Crossing his arms and frowning as the girl did, Naruto turned his head to see the Cheshire Cat pop out of thin air once more…

"So, what exactly did this?" Naruto questioned and Cheshire narrowed his eyes.

"Soulless I'm afraid." He replied and Naruto raised a brow. "Don't look at me like that, I may be from this world but that doesn't make me ignorant to the happenings of other worlds." Cheshire stated and Naruto blinked before rolling his eyes.

"Why am I not surprised?" He questioned with a slight amused twinkle to his eyes and Cheshire grinned towards him. "So then, what's a Soulless?" Naruto asked once more and Cheshire narrowed his eyes.

"A Soulless is the Inverse of a Heartless, born in Light they are driven by Conviction rather than Instinct, giving them the tenacity of religious zealots. Their only purpose is to destroy Darkness, even if that means they have to destroy everything that has even a smidge of Darkness held within it." Cheshire explained and Naruto frowned to himself while crossing his arms.

"So from the sounds of it they're the equivalent of Religious Fanatics dedicated to Light?" Naruto mused and Cheshire nodded his head to the blond. "Great, just what we didn't need…" Naruto muttered and Cheshire chuckled to himself slightly.

"You should hurry Naruto, Alice will need your protection from these creatures. Her weapons are formed of Meta-Essence, not Darkness, so they cannot harm these creatures." Cheshire warns and Naruto nodded his head before running along the Battlements to catch up with Alice, the cat vanishing soon after…

--

(??)

"So you found a book on Heartless?" Sora asks King Mickey while sitting down with his legs crossed, Kairi by his side sitting on a wing of his Gummi-Ship "Excalibur" and Riku leaning back into it. King Mickey was across from them while Donald and Goofy had went to get the "Highwind Mk. 4" King Mickey's ship.

"Not exactly Sora, it's actually a book written by Xehanort with the compiled information he had on all the forces of Darkness, Light, and everything in between." Mickey corrected while handing the book to Sora, but Kairi quickly took it instead, both Riku and Sora looking over her shoulders a she started to read. Blinking the red haired girl then huffed and looked at both boys with an annoyed frown.

"Do you mind?" Kairi asked and the boys both moved away from her shoulders to allow her to get back to her reading.

"So King Mickey, what are we supposed to be looking for in there?" Sora asks while nudging towards the book and the mouse crosses his arms.

"Not much, we've already tangled with Heartless and Nobodies… and I know that the Unversed are gone…" King Mickey mused while Kairi suddenly stopped on a page in the book and raised a brow.

"Others?" She questioned and King Mickey nodded his head.

"I noticed that as well. Their supposed to be equal and yet Opposite of a Somebody." Mickey said and Sora scratched his head.

"Somebody?" He questioned and Riku rolled his eyes.

"People like us Sora, or even King Mickey… basically any living thing with a Heart, Body, Mind, and Soul." Riku explained and Sora made an Oh with his mouth while Kairi's eyes suddenly widened in horror.

"As a Somebody lives a life filled with light, so will an Other experience an opposite life. A Somebody with a warm loving family, will end up living all alone…" Kairi read and Sora and Riku both gaped.

"What the… but why?" Sora questioned and King Mickey sighed tiredly.

"In order to coexist, Darkness and Light have to be in a perfect balance. An Other is supposed to balance a Somebody. Thus as we are Protectors of Light, our Others would be closer to Darkness." Mickey explained and Riku frowned in thought.

"What about someone whose neither Dark nor Light?" He asked and Mickey grinned towards the silver haired teen.

"Those of Twilight are in balance within themselves, they are neither Dark nor Light because they can be either. So technically, when you think about it, a Nobody would balance them since a Nobody is Nothing." Mickey explained while Kairi continued to read the book and then frowned.

"Does a Princess of Heart have an Other?" Kairi wondered aloud and Mickey shrugged his shoulders.

"Technically speaking, they should, but there's a few pages missing from the book." Mickey explained and Kairi checked, then frowned when she noticed the last twenty pages of the book seemed to have been ripped out.

"So is that why you came to us?" Riku questioned and King Mickey nodded his head.

"Right! I want you three to help us look for those final pages. I'm afraid they might have information that some people would use to make Heartless or Nobodies." Mickey explained and Sora nodded his head.

"We're with you King Mickey!" He said and Riku nodded his head.

"I guess we can't just let anyone like Xehanort get his hands on that kind of information." Riku mused aloud and King Mickey nodded his head.

"Looks like we're heading out on another adventure then." Sora noted while pushing himself off of the Excalibur and Riku moved to open the door. Looking pensively towards the boys, Kairi closed the book and then looked to King Mickey while biting her lower lip.

"Um, King Mickey, do you think you can teach me a healing spell first? Just encase Sora or Riku need me?" Kairi asked the mouse with a pleading look and Mickey nodded his head with a smile.

--

(Broken Wonderland…)

Naruto and Alice watched as the "Skool" rocked back and fourth for the third time. "Okay Alice, you ready yet?" Naruto asked while Alice looked at the Skool, then the drop and sighed. The Cheshire Cat sat with an amused expression on his face, causing Alice to give him a look.

"Entering Skool requires a real, Leap of Logic…" Cheshire offered with an amused tone and Alice huffed while watching the Skool come closer to them. Taking a few steps back, the girl then rushed forward and jumped into an open window. "Need a pep-talk as well?" Cheshire asked Naruto and the Blond shook his head.

"That wasn't even a pep-talk, I think you might have just pissed her off." Naruto mused and Cheshire shrugged his shoulders. "Got a way to piss me off?" Naruto then asked the cat and Cheshire grinned widely.

"I can't know everything… Oh, I know. Pretend you're an Orphan." Cheshire stated and Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Oh, that was rude. You are." Cheshire finished while vanishing and Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Touché…" Naruto said through gritted teeth as he turned and then jumped into the Skool, soon landing inside he saw Alice was waiting for him with a visible frown. Looking around, Naruto noted that he and Alice were in a long hall with a large door at the end, a red rug bellow them lead to the door with a green hexagon with the word SKOOL emblazoned on it, an odd kid at the end of the hall walking on his tiptoes, an odd metal contraption placed on his head. "Something up Alice?" Naruto finally asked and Alice motioned towards several pieces of Meta-essence around the room.

"You shouldn't dilly dally like that, we still have a long way to go." Alice stated simply and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah." Naruto mumbled as he and the red head walked down the hall, passing the odd, obviously mentally deranged, kid without a second glance. Opening the door, Alice and Naruto saw a large entry-hall like room, some stairs at the opposite end of the room leading to both the left and right, four doors were visible as well, two directly opposite them on the top floor, and the other two on the sides of the top floor, library books were positioned on their current floor on either side, with a grandfather clock to their left near the back of the room, small lamps bathing the room in an otherwise pleasant glow.

"No Card Guard…" Alice noted with a thin frown, and then saw some Meta-Essence once more.

"I thought you didn't care." Naruto reminded the girl and Alice sighed slightly before giving him a look.

"Before, I didn't rightly care, but this is starting to get more than just a little strange even for Wonderland." Alice explained while looking around and Naruto nodded his head in agreement with her. Walking forward and up a flight of stairs, Naruto spotted something glowing to the left and raised a brow.

"Okay, what is that?" Naruto wondered and Alice shrugged her shoulders, and then ran over to get a better look.

"It's a Croquet mallet." She stated and Naruto made his way to check and scratched his head seeing what looked more like a bird than a mallet.

"Are you sure it's a mallet? It looks more like a bird to me…" Naruto noted and Alice shook her head and then jumped over to the ledge the mallet was resting on. Picking the object up Alice tapped it in one hand before taking a step back as Cheshire appeared before her.

"Here's a riddle for you. When is a Croquet Mallet used like a billy club? I'll tell you: whenever you want it to be." The cat said darkly and Alice hummed for a moment, then made a tapping motion with the club, a ball of lightning popping into existence.

"Oh my, now that's certainly surprising." Alice noted and then looked to Naruto. "See you in a moment." Alice said before jumping down to the ground floor and Naruto made his way to meet her. However as he did a beam of light seemed to come out of nowhere and hit the floor. Cursing under his breath the blond teen rushed to Alice and took up a stance before the girl, quickly pulling his Keyblades free as something formed from the beam of light.

The something had a pure white body in a vaguely feminine shape, it had a metal "Cross Flory Fetch" on its torso with rivets holding it on, another metal cross flory fetch was present over its face in the shape of a mask, while a metal "Cross Moline" adorned each of its thighs down to its knees, segmented metal bands covered over its left forearm and hand but left its fingers bare, its legs were ended in sharp blades that seemed to hover just off the ground, a white ring of light hovered over its head, and its right arm was replaced by a short sword with segmented bands over its still present forearm. (Pure Breed Soulless: Prism…)

"Naruto… why do I have the urge to run as far away from that thing as my legs can carry?" Alice suddenly questioned while visibly shaking and Naruto felt his mind cloud slightly while his Spellbinder of Knowledge began to glow.

"That thing… it's a Prism, most basic of all Soulless, they are often found in small to large groups and fight well as a team. Be warned, their power to bend light can often be fatal." Naruto explained before shaking his head and quickly pulled his Keyblades from his back. "Alice, go hide while I deal with this." Naruto stated and Alice gave him a look.

"Now see here, I may be frightened, but I won't abandon my friends." Alice stated firmly and Naruto narrowed his eyes as three more Prism type Soulless suddenly appeared around the first.

"Alice!" Cheshire said while appearing on the girl's shoulders, eyes narrowed on the Soulless. "These things are not from Wonderland, your weapons will do you no good against them. Only Darkness can hurt them and you sadly do not have that kind of power yet." Cheshire said quickly, hissing towards the Soulless while Naruto took note of the "Yet" but decided not to ask.

"Right, so go and hide while I deal with these." Naruto ordered and Alice looked to Cheshire as he rushed away to show her a hiding spot. Fighting down her normally stubborn nature, Alice gave Naruto a look.

"Just… try to stay in one piece." She mumbled before rushing off as Naruto crouched into a stance before the Soulless.

"I make no promises…" He mumbled quietly while the Soulless launched forward, swinging their short sword arms at him as one. Sliding back from the attack Naruto then launched an attack of his own, swinging Dark-Heart he slashed with Dark-Heart, slicing through the first of the Soulless, causing it to vanish in a burst of light. Smirking at the small victory, Naruto cursed when one opened its arms, then suddenly vanished in a flash of light.

Looking around for the Soulless, Naruto cried out as its sword got him from behind. "Ah shit, they can become invisible…" Naruto mumbled before twisting on his heel, slamming Dark-Soldier into a Soulless and knocking it into another. Coming to a halt Naruto saw the final Soulless come at him, duck down and then knock him off of his feet. The Soulless then twisted and stabbed downwards with its blade arm soon after, Naruto cursing as he rolled out of the way then flipped back to his feet.

"Smarter than a Heartless, but less organized than a Nobody…" Naruto noted to himself while watching the three Soulless as they came towards him. "Dark-Soldier doesn't destroy them because it doesn't have a blades edge, but Dark-Heart does…" Naruto then realized while looking at his two Keyblades then back to the Soulless, a yellow tint slowly overtaking his blue eyes.

'_Alright, now what do I know about these Soulless, they can become invisible, possibly by bending Light, they have a sword replacing their right arms, and you can't trip them since they don't walk, they hover… However, what they have in sheer ability and power, they lack in endurance.'_ Naruto noted and then flipped Dark-Soldier onto his back, a smirk crossing over his lips.

"Seeing as you freaks can't handle too much Darkness… lets see if a little help is all I need to take you down." Naruto muses before slamming a fist into the ground, a Dark-Gate forming beneath him, while several Neo-Shadows started crawling out of the swirling pool. The Soulless reacted instantly to this, lunging for the Heartless like wild beasts they swung their blades at the Heartless. Blinking in surprise, Naruto watched as the Soulless and Heartless lunged at one another like the most bitter of enemies, slashing, clawing, biting, scratching, doing anything and everything they could to destroy one another…

'_Right, Heartless are a manifestation of the Darkness in a persons heart, a Soulless is the manifestation of Light… so it'd be reasonable that they'd be mortal enemies…'_ Naruto realized while watching the fight, leaning Dark-Heart into his shoulder as the Soulless ignored him in favor of the Pure-Blood-Heartless… "You know, they really aren't too smart." Naruto noted with a shake of his head as a Soulless got too close to him. Sighing mentally then blond stabbed Dark-Heart into it from behind, dissipating it and freeing one of the Neo-Shadows to attack one of the two remaining Prism's, destroying it.

Once they were gone the final Prism looked around then grabbed the Halo that had been hovering over its head and threw it to the ground. Instantly a portal formed and four new figures in white climbed out to stand at the Prism's sides.

These like the Prism's were all white and feminine in design, with a grey metal Cross Flory Fetch over their chests with bolts holding it on, a Cross Moline on their thighs with more bolts, with dagger shaped lower legs, a Halo hovering over its head, a Cross Fluery over its head like a mask with bolts on it as well, a metal collar was pulled around its neck and seemingly bolted as well, with segmented metal bands of armor down from their biceps to their hands, forming into metal claws at the end with bolted silver bracelets around their wrists. (Pure Blood Soulless: Fanatic…)

"Fanatics, a sub-level of the Soulless, below a Prism, a Fanatic is little more than a monster with claws. Slashing and attacking their enemies with savage brutality, the Fanatic should never be underestimated." Naruto droned out as his Spellbinder of knowledge glowed, then rapidly shook his head and scowled. "Note to self, figure out a way for that thing to use inner voices." Naruto said to himself while pulling Dark-Soldier from his back as the Fanatics all crouched into position around the Prism, the Neo-Shadows mirroring them at his sides.

Suddenly the Prism swung its blade in the air and then brought it down to point towards Naruto. Instantly, the Fanatics lunged forward, lashing out with their sharp claws at the Heartless, while the Prism lunged at Naruto. Cursing, the blond boy blocked the Soulless' attack before knocking it back and then lunged forward and sliced the soulless in half. Turning on his heel, Naruto watched on as the four brutal Fanatic type Soulless literally ripped the three Neo-Shadows to pieces before flipping into crouched stances facing him.

"Man, don't you things ever give up?!" Naruto demanded before crouching down and lunging forward with a roar. Swinging his two keyblades forward he knocked one Fanatic back while blocking the attack of another. Kicking the blocked Soulless to the side he threw Dark-Heart at another, the blade spinning threw the air and slicing the Fanatic in half. Blocking an incoming Fanatics claws, Naruto grit his teeth before reaching out to catch Dark-Heart and then slashed the blocked Soulless upwards, cutting it in half down the middle.

Breathing a small sigh of relief, Naruto looked around and then cursed as he dodged the claws of the next Fanatic. Twisting sideways in midair Naruto destroyed that Soulless before twirling in midair and landing in a low crouch. Gritting his teeth, the blond watched the final Soulless as it twitched before lunging forward. Wildly swinging its claws at the blond, it didn't seem to notice as he flipped Dark-Heart into a reverse grip. This was a mistake as the blond swung that arm forward and then twisted around, slashing the Soulless in half and ending the fight at long last.

Coming to a halt, Naruto grinned before swinging both of his keyblades and sheathing them onto his back. "Now that's how it's done!" Naruto noted and then turned to see Alice slowly peeking out from her hiding spot.

"Well it's about bloody time." She commented, Cheshire appearing and looking around curiously.

"Impressive my boy. But, what did you do with the big one?" Cheshire commented and then questioned and Naruto blinked while looking at the cat strangely.

"What big one?" He asked seriously and Cheshire's eyes widened before all three fell to the ground as the Skool was rocked by tremors. Seconds later the three looked up and were shocked to see another Soulless, this one at LEAST the size of a Dark-Side or Twilight-Thorn and lifting the roof off of the building.

"A Juggernaut… largest of all Soulless and the inverse of a Darkside. Beware their power as they can bring entire worlds into a never ending light…" Naruto droned out before shaking his head as the Soulless voice rumbled, causing the floor beneath them to shake and shudder.

"_That_ is big one!" Cheshire exclaimed as the massive creature then tore the entire front of the building open and roared down at Naruto and company loudly.

This Soulless was all white like the last few, had the same glowing halo over its head, with the same grey bolted down Cross Flory Fetch on its chest, a grey bolted down Cross Fluery on its mask, and a grey bolted down Cross Moline covering its thighs, this one however had two billowing wings with ivory colored feathers, segmented grey armor covered both arms from the biceps down with spiked white brass knuckles over its hands, a grey collar was bolted to its neck, and its legs ended in daggers like the rest. (Pureblood Soulless: Juggernaut…)

"There just HAD to be one of these things as big as a Darkside, didn't there…" Naruto muttered to himself before yelping as the Juggernaut grabbed him before throwing him high into the air like a rag doll. Rumbling low in its throat, the Soulless then beat its massive wings and flew into the air after the boy. Cursing when he saw it coming at him, Naruto reared Dark-Soldier back before throwing the weapon at the beast. However, this time had much different results as the Juggernaut caught the Keyblade before crushing it in one hand.

"Oh shit!" Naruto exclaimed as the Soulless rose up above him and then slammed its fist into his back, sending him flying down and into a piece of the floating ground around the Fortress of Doors. Groaning in pain, Naruto pushed himself onto his feet and looked up as the Soulless lowered itself to hover over the ground and rumble in its throat. Groaning, Naruto took hold of Dark-Heart with both hands, and then gasped as a Keychain suddenly formed at the pommel of the weapon. The chain was shaped like a purple heart with a black X poking out of it with gold vines weaving around them both, a small ruby in the shape of a star placed into the center finishing the odd little Keychain.

"Okay, what the hell does that mean?" Naruto wondered before cursing as the Juggernaut suddenly lifted one hand before bringing it slamming into the ground. A shockwave rippled the ground they were standing on, sending Naruto flying back and nearly off of the patch of land. Quickly stabbing Dark-Heart into the side of the piece of land Naruto pulled himself back up and glared up at the massive Soulless. "Alright, I've had enough of you throwing me around!" Naruto roared out before lunging forward, the Soulless quickly batting one arm at the boy.

Quickly jumping over the backhand Naruto landed back onto the ground and jumped onto the other arm of the Soulless. Running up its arm he then slammed Dark-Heart into its head, surprised when an ball of Darkness was sent with the blade and knocked the Soulless back and off of the piece of land they were on. Flipping back onto the ground, Naruto looked at Dark-Heart in shock for a moment before chuckling to himself as he then watched the Soulless rise into the air once more. This time the beast roared out before grabbing the Halo over its head, reared back its arm and then threw the circle of light down at the blond.

"Oh shit." Naruto muttered while ducking out of the way, the halo cleanly cutting threw the piece of land and causing it to fall in on itself. Cursing as he fell Naruto then felt one of his Spellbinders awaken. It was the Spellbinder on his right forearm, yet oddly enough, five rings had also appeared on his fingers, the ring on his thumb glowing an icy cold blue. "Well, lets see what this does!" Naruto mused before rearing his arm back and threw it downwards, a blast of ice forming into a platform below him.

Landing with a pant the blond looked at his arm in shock. "Spellbinder of Magic, with it, Dark Magic becomes available to you…" Naruto mumbled as his Spellbinder of knowledge glowed before dimming as he clenched his fist, eyes a dark yellow color. "Alright, now to teach this Soulless freak not to mess wit The Darkness!" Naruto exclaimed as the shadows around him suddenly stretched and wrapped around his form, soon revealing his red Seeker armor. Crouching down, Naruto watched for the Soulless Juggernaut before launching himself into the air, swinging Dark-Heart at the beast and nailing it in the chest.

Roaring out in pain, the Soulless swung one of its tree-trunk like arms at the darkness empowered blond. However, Naruto merely flipped in midair and then threw a beam of ice at its arm, instantly freezing it. Landing on top of its arm Naruto ran along its length before slamming Dark-Heart into the creatures head. Roaring out in pain the Soulless flipped in midair, Naruto falling once more before creating another platform of ice and landing on it. Looking upwards the blond then sent several beams of his Dark-Ice out and created a line of ice platforms back to the Skool.

Jumping up and rushing up to the skool, the blond jumped as the Juggernaut began to slam into the Ice-Pillars as he ran along them. Growling angrily the beast then grabbed its Halo once more and clenched its fist. Sparks flowed from the clenched fist of the odd creature before it suddenly lashed out, throwing its right arm in a wide ark and sending an ark of light towards Naruto. Cursing Naruto jumped into the skool at the last second before turning around as the Juggernaut hovered before the skool, roaring out angrily at the blond haired boy.

"_Now we end this!"_ Naruto growled out before launching himself forward, holding Dark-Heart to one side he focused a Dark ball along its length before swinging the weapon, sending an ark of darkness at the Juggernaut. Sliding to a halt the blond watched as the arc of energy slammed into the Juggernaut, causing it to roar out in pain before falling back and then down into the abyss around the skool at long last…

Breathing a sigh of relief, Naruto fell to his knees before looking up and used Dark-Heart to brace himself. Sighing once more Naruto pushed himself to his feet before turning to see Alice and Cheshire staring at him. _"What?"_ Naruto questioned and Alice quickly shook her head before walking over to the blond and poked his armor. _"No seriously, what?"_ Naruto asked and Alice blinked before wrapping her arms behind her back and looking at him oddly.

"Does that suit hurt?" She asked and Naruto nearly fell over before giving her an incredulous stare.

"_Why would armor hurt?"_ Naruto asked and Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"It kind of looks like muscle tissue… I just thought it might hurt…" Alice admits and Cheshire chuckled as he made his way over to the blond and the girl.

"No Alice, its not Muscle, its Dark-Armor, a true mark of a Seeker of Darkness." Cheshire noted and Naruto nodded his head slowly. "And I believe, its time for you to be leaving us now." Cheshire noted as a Dark-Corridor opened up nearby and Alice looked to Cheshire for a moment.

"What? Already, but he's only just become useful!" Alice complained and Naruto scoffed while crossing his arms.

"_Say Cheshire, what's with this Keychain on Dark-Heart?"_ Naruto asked the cat and it looked at the keyblade and then its keychain before smirking.

"A Keychain on a Keyblade represents your mastery over the weapon. A Keybearer in training will use a Keyblade without the Keychain in order to master it. Now that you've awakened Dark-Hearts Keychain, you can modify it with others for more power… its that simple." Cheshire explained with a grin before suddenly disappearing then reappeared with a red orb in his mouth. Dropping the orb, Cheshire then placed a paw on it while looking at Naruto.

"_And what's that exactly?"_ Naruto asked and Cheshire grinned wider as he patted the little orb.

"A summoning Stone, if ever you need me, just give me a call. With your magic awakened, you can use it. Also, if ever Alice needs you in the battles to come, I can find you for her." Cheshire explained and Naruto nodded his head while reaching down, then picked up the summoning stone and watched as it vanished into his Magic Bangle. Turning to look at the Dark-Corridor for a moment, Naruto then crossed his arms as he looked over to Alice.

"_Try not to get into too much trouble without me."_ Naruto ordered and Alice huffered while crossing her arms.

"I should be saying that too you." She stated and Naruto smiled despite himself, then turned and walked over to the Dark-Corridor. "Be sure you come back!" Alice finally shouted and Naruto gave a thumb up before walking into the Dark-Corridor and vanished into the shadows.

"I'll miss him." Cheshire noted thoughtfully and Alice merely shook her head and walked further into the Skool, Cheshire vanishing soon after…

--

(Betwixt and Between…)

A familiar old man walked into the realm between light and shadows and smiled despite himself. "Ah, here you are…" He whispered and saw a lone Dusk Nobody in the center of the void, seemingly looking at nothing. "It's taken me some time to find you, but in the end, all will come together." The old man mused allowed while pulling out Axel's chakrams, the Dusk turning towards him as he did.

"You recognize this power, don't you?" The old man questioned and the Dusk came towards him. "You long to hold it once more." The old man stated and the Dusk reached for the Chakrams, only for him to pull them back. "But, to have them, you must help me, help me in my quest…" The old man stated and the Dusk instantly nodded its head to the old man. "Do not take this lightly fool, for what you may agree too could very well cost you everything you still are." The old man reminds and the Dusk merely nods its head once more, making him smirk slightly.

"Such conviction, it does my old heart good." The man notes before lightly tossing the two chakrams at the Dusk. Instantly it reached out, its pointed hands going into the center of the weapons. Instantly, they began to spin on the Nobody's arms, spinning and spinning before suddenly flames shot up around it. As the flames rose into the air, the Dusk in the center began to grow, form changing slightly as a voice roared out into the sky. Moving an arm to cover his face, the old man grinned as soon the voice died down and a new form was in the place of the Dusk.

It had the shape of a full grown man, however its body was extremely angular, with visible black skin with a pumpkin shaped grin on its face, its body mostly covered by a pure white cloak with a nobody symbol on the back, the wrists of the cloak tight on its wrists while its hands were tipped by sharp claws and the cloak wrapped around its legs and feet like pants and boots. "OH YEAH! I AM BACK!!" The Nobody suddenly shouted while throwing two familiar Chakrams into the air and then caught them at its sides with a slightly wider grin.

"Calm yourself Axel, we still need to locate your soul before you can take your Human Form." The old man suddenly commented and "Axel" blinked before looking down at his body and shivered.

"Oh great, what the hell is this?" Axel wondered and The Old man merely shook his head.

"If you want to get yourself back to normal, I suggest you follow me." He stated and Axel watched the old man walk towards the exit before dissipating his Chakrams and followed him. Hey, in his defense, if the old guy could get him back into a semi-human form he'd be happy… wait, happy?

--

TBC…

--


	12. Coliseum of the Gods

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 11**_: _**Coliseum of the Gods**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(??)

Naruto grunted while pushing himself to his feet, placing a hand to his head the blond looked up and felt his jaw nearly drop off. Slowly standing up the young blond looked towards what appeared to be a massive stone coliseum, pillars holding up the roof over his head while leaving the center open enough to see the sky above, numerous statues lining the inner walls of a massive lobby while merchants and peddlers attempted to sell their wares to unready combatants. However what caught his attention was what appeared to be giant people sitting on thrones of gold above the coliseum, looking down at the battles being held within.

"What the hell?" Naruto wondered then looked down and frowned when he noticed his armor had receded once more. "I really need to learn how to keep that Armor out. It would certainly make combat a lot more simple." He noted before shaking his head and took a look at the people around the area, most dressed in togas with sandals, others wearing leather or bronze battle armor with all manor of weaponry, from hand shields to massive battleaxes. Walking into the lobby of the coliseum, the blond spotted a peddler offering him some wares and ignored him.

Walking around the lobby, Naruto eventually found something that caught his eye. It was a brown leather bandoleer with an extra strap for his left arm making it into a y shape, with six small Throwing knives placed into leather loops on the front, a small pouch sewn into the shoulder for three more, and a curved silver short sword sheathed at the back with the handle towards the side. Unsheathing the sword and holding it in one hand, Naruto nodded his head before reaching for some munnie and handed it to the man. Upon leaving his own hand, the munnie changed into gold coins and the peddler thanked the blond while quickly placing the coins into a box.

"So that's how Munnie works on other worlds." Naruto noted to himself quietly before pulling his Dark-Cloak off and then pulled the Bandoleer on, hiding the knives at his shoulder when he pulled it back on. Cracking his neck, the blond teen then pulled the Hood of his Dark-Cloak up before zipping it up, then crossed his arms while walking into the fray of people around the lobby. The now cloaked blond teen moved about the lobby of the coliseum silently, a few shady characters resembling him in style nodding as he passed by. _'Must be assassins…'_ Naruto noted while nodding to one as he passed and then cracked his neck while moving around the lobby further.

"I can't believe the gods are looking for a new champion!" One man commented and Naruto raised a brow from the shadows of his hood.

"Are you kidding? I heard that both Helios and Hermes were slain by the Ghost of Sparta! Of course they're looking for a champion." One person noted with his arms crossed and then shivered while a third man in the little group nodded his head.

"Who would be fool enough to attack a man whose killed more than four gods already?!" He asked and each of the three agreed it wouldn't be any of them. Shaking his head, Naruto walked on, looking for someone else to get some information from.

"A Tournament of Champions. Only one will gain the honor of fighting for the gods." One warrior noted while looking at one of the statues around the lobby. "Please, Lord Zeus, please guide my blade." He mumbled and Naruto shook his head once more before wandering back into the throng of people. _'Alright, looks like these people are here for a tournament… guess the reason I'm here is to fight in it.'_ Naruto reasoned while walking around the lobby, learning how some "Gods" had been killed.

'_Thus far, the god of the sun, Helios, the god of thieves and fire, Hermes, the goddess of the underworld, Persephone, the god of war, Ares, AND goddess of war and wizdom, Athena, have all been killed off by one man. In order to stop this guy, and while also keeping their own skins intact, the remaining gods and goddesses are looking for a mortal to take him down instead.'_ Naruto mused while crossing his arms over his chest with a slim frown. Thinking about the surprisingly long list of gods and goddesses that this guy had already taken down, Naruto shivered in fear.

'_Anyone who takes this guy on has got to be suicidal, nuff said.'_ Naruto thought to himself before walking around some of the other warriors. Listening for more information on what was going on in this world, Naruto stopped when a man was suddenly thrown into the center of the lobby. Blinking, Naruto gasped upon seeing how mauled the body looked, having numerous lacerations as well as his head twisted towards its back. Gulping a bit of air, the blond teen turned to who threw the man and took a step back in shock and no small amount of fear.

What he was seeing was a man that had a very muscular body seemingly built solely for combat, his skin was ash white, his eyes were a near golden brown with a stitched scar over his right eye, a pointed black goatee the only hair on his face or head, another much larger scar was present on his stomach, a red stripe curved over his left eye somewhat like a scar before curling up over his head, down his spine, curled in over his left pectoral, and then curved around his left shoulder till it reached his bicep.

The man was wearing golden armor over his right arm that had gold ram like horns on it, with red fingerless gloves over both his hands, golden bracers over each of his forearms stained with blood, a golden belt was around his waist, while numerous strips of leather fell down over his right leg, a red loincloth like thing hanging over the front of his groin with gold marks over it, brown leather sandals were over his feet, with golden greaves over his shins and calves, an extra set of greaves over those with small wings on the sides, and an extra golden plate strapped to his left leg with chains.

However, chains were wrapped around the strange mans forearms, the chains lead to a pair of wicked looking blades held in each hand. Each blade was seemingly made from stone with silver inlayed with it, forming into a pair of skull like faces with glowing yellow jewels for eyes, the teeth of the skull pointing up at the backs of his hands while horns formed from the skull formed a downward pointing spike over his fingers, the blade itself was shaped like a jagged flame, red glowing runes present in the center of each blade giving them an almost evil appearance.

Presently, the man was covered head to toe in blood; a bloody head hanging from one hip while his face was turned into a sneer. Looking around, people quaked in fear of the man as he strode forward. One man went to get in his way, the mans reaction was instant, he lashed out with one of his two blades, sending the blade flying forward, embedding it into the fools neck before ripping it back out and catching it in his outstretched hand. Giving a brief humph, the man walked passed the corpse as it fell to its knees and then to its side, everyone in the lobby giving him a very wide berth.

'_I'm guessing HE was the one who killed all those gods and goddesses… or at least he certainly looks the part.'_ Naruto noted while the man walked to a pair of massive double doors and snorted. Rearing himself back he then kicked them open with one foot, causing Naruto to stare as he then strode into the coliseum. "That guy is tough…" Naruto said to himself before looking around, then made his way to the door and sighed. "I must be crazy." He said to himself as he wandered into the coliseum as well, following the strange man with ash colored skin.

Silently walking down a long corridor with statues of various heroes from the past, Naruto soon spotted the ash-skinned man. The man was walking towards a massive pair of doors but a roaring fire came up before him, a man appearing from and walking out of the flames soon after. The man was massive, hunched over as he was it was plain to see he was extremely strong, with a metal helmet with horns and flames for a face beyond a metal grate, spikes jutting from his body with a brown loincloth, leather sandals, chains wrapped around his waist, bandages over his biceps, wrists, and thighs, and gold greaves over his shins.

"**Turn back Kratos, this tournament is not for the likes of you."** The massive man said in a deep rumbling voice, naming the pale skinned "Ghost of Sparta" who sneered at him in response.

"I'll go where I please, Hades." He stated simply while flipping one of his blades in hand and Hades growled angrily.

"**Doing what you please is exactly WHY we're having this little tournament, Kratos."** The god grumbled out while looking down at the man, shaking his head, Naruto watched as Kratos gripped his twin chain-blades and narrowed his eyes.

"I'll tell you to move only one more time before I do to you, what I did to Helios." Kratos growled out while clenching his fists onto his blades tightly and Hades reached back to pull a pair of chains with hooked ends out and hold them at his sides.

"**No, Kratos. In order to enter the tournament you would need a partner to do battle with. Zeus foresaw you coming here and planned for it, no one may enter without a partner, and no mortal on this world is fool enough to fight with the likes of you."** Hades explained and then vanished in a brief flash of fire, one of Kratos' blades embedding itself into the wall where he'd been.

"Zeus… is their no end to your treachery?" Kratos demanded before ripping his blade out of the wall and caught it in one hand. Watching the man as he attempted to knock the doors down, Naruto considered his own options.

'_Alright, I could fight with this guy… but then again I'd be pissing off several gods I'm sure, not to mention put my life in danger by being around him. But on the other hand, this guy would owe me one and having someone with that much power owing me one would be good… what to do, what to do?'_ Naruto mused before slowly nodding his head and then blinked as a thought came to him. _'Hey, why not get a second opinion.'_ Naruto mused before holding out a hand, producing The Cheshire Cat's summon stone.

"Alright then, Summon!" Naruto said lowly and a keyhole appeared before him, The Cheshire Cat popping into existence over it with his eternal grin.

"Ah, hello Naruto, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" Cheshire asked and Naruto pointed a thumb towards where Kratos was using all manner of weapons and magic in an attempt to enter the coliseum. "Ah, so you've gotten to this world then." He noted with a slight nod of his head and Naruto raised a brow.

"You know something about him?" He asked and Cheshire nodded his head.

"That man over there is Kratos, son of Zeus, the God of Olympus and a mortal woman. He was raised as a Spartan General all his life, however, his tactics were more brutal than anyone else's. Eventually however, the man met his match in the brutal barbarian horde. Near death the man made a deal with Ares, the God of War himself. The God destroyed the Barbarians, and granted Kratos the Blades of Chaos, allowing him to kill the barbarian leader himself." Cheshire explained and Naruto shivered, it was never good to make deals with immortal beings…

"I'm guessing that things went south afterwards." Naruto noted with a frown and Cheshire shuddered.

"You'd win that bet. Kratos followed the commands of Ares to the letter, destroying his enemies and annihilating anyone who stood in his way. Eventually, Kratos entered into a village, and in a blind rage the man murdered everyone within… including his wife and child." The cat explained while Naruto gaped at the cat. "Coming out of his madness, Kratos knelt at the feet of those he'd slaughtered in shock. The God of War, Ares, had tricked Kratos into doing this, a seer cursed him as well, forever more and for all eternity, the ashes of his family shall remain fastened to his skin, turning it white, like a ghost, and on that night, Kratos vowed to kill the God of War." The Cheshire Cat explained while Naruto shivered visibly.

"For ten years, Kratos served the Gods, for ten years, Kratos sought out a penance for his horrible deeds. And then, once those ten years had passed, Kratos was ordered to kill a God. Ares, in his brutaility, attacked the city of Athens against Zeus's wishes. And since the gods may not wage war on one another, they could only send a mortal trained by a god, Kratos was that mortal. Given the order to find Pandora's box, Kratos battled his way through countless horrors before eventually gaining the power to kill a god." The Cheshire Cat continued while Naruto turned to see Kratos brandishing a bow and arrow, firing bolts of lightning from it and at the door.

"Kratos killed Ares, and all he asked in exchange was that the gods rid him of the memories and nightmares that plagued him. But, the gods did not, they could never take the memories away, for no god nor mortal could ever forget his terrible deeds. And so, Kratos journeyed to the highest peak of Athens and fell. After ten years of suffering, ten long years of nightmares, death would be his release. But, he was not to die, for the gods could not allow one who had done such service to die by his own hand. Instead, he was brought up, allowed a throne in Olympus, as the new, God of War." The Cheshire cat continued and Naruto looked more than a little surprised.

"But…" Naruto stated to ask and Cheshire gave him a look. "Right, please continue Cheshire." Naruto then says and Cheshire nodded his head.

"Thank you. Anyways, over time Kratos became an even more brutal god than Ares ever was. It got so bad that the gods that had once aided him attacked him. Zeus fearing that Kratos would try to take the throne of Olympus from him stripped Kratos of his godly power and attempted to destroy him. However, Gaia Titan and Mother Earth saved Kratos, telling him the only way to change destiny would be to go to the sisters of fate. Kratos journeyed to the island of fate, and fought his way to the sisters before claiming their power as his own." Cheshire explained and then his grin seemed to widen even more than normal.

"Taking the powers of the fates, Kratos journeyed into the past, rescuing the Titans, the dreaded foes of the Olympian Gods. Bringing them to his own time, Kratos laid siege to Olympus… intent on destroying the gods he felt had betrayed him." Cheshire explained and Naruto slowly nodded his head before frowning.

"Then what is this tournament all about?" Naruto finally asked and Cheshire grinned wider still.

"The Tournament is being held by Zeus. Since Kratos has killed every god he's come up against thus far. He feels that looking for a mortal or two to fight him would be best. Having two enter together will allow them an advantage over Kratos. And also, because no mortal on this world would dare join Kratos for fear of Zeus, thus he cannot enter into the tournament himself." Cheshire explained to the teen with a wave of one paw and Naruto crossed his arms.

"So, would you suggest I help the psycho over there?" Naruto asked while pointing a thumb towards Kratos as he slammed one shoulder into the doors, the wooden doors nearly buckling under his strength.

"Well, I suppose… after all, you could gain a little combat experience from him. He has had more training in his lifetime than you." Cheshire noted and Naruto rolled his eyes before nodding his head. "Oh, and by the way, Alice wanted me to say hi for her, she's a bit preoccupied with manhandling books." Cheshire then said and Naruto stared at the cat for a moment.

"Manhandling books?" He asked and Cheshire shook his head.

"I told her to tap it, and she shoved it off a shelf four floors up… I'm just glad I didn't suggest force, she might've pulverized it." The Cat told Naruto and the blond haired boy grinned slightly while wrapping his arms behind his head.

"Only Alice…" He murmured with a shake of his head, Cheshire nodding his own in agreement. "Say Cheshire, how much do you really know about the other worlds?" Naruto asked his favorite talking cat and Cheshire took a thoughtful expression before grinning wider still.

"Well now, I believe that I know more than you, yet, not as much as you believe I do… so, what do you believe the answer is?" The Cheshire Cat questioned mysteriously before suddenly vanishing, the keyhole following him and leaving Naruto to shake his head. Turning back towards Kratos he saw the man was now crouched back before lashing out at the doors with his Blades of Chaos. Whistling at the damage he'd done, Naruto watched the doors repair themselves in a flash of light.

"You know, force doesn't seem to be doing you much good here." Naruto noted casually and Kratos turned to him with a sneer.

"What do you want boy?" He demanded harshly and Naruto tilted his head before walking over to the door.

"You want to enter this tournament?" Naruto asks while looking at the doors and Kratos narrowed his eyes on the blond.

"And what would it matter to you if I do?" He questioned and Naruto turned to him, arms crossed over his chest.

"You can't enter without a partner." Naruto stated and then moved his head to one side, evading one of the Blades of Chaos from cutting his head in half.

"Do not patronize me boy, I already know that." Kratos growled before yanking the blade from the wall and caught it in his outstretched hand.

"True… which is why I'd like to offer my services to you." Naruto replied and Kratos raised a brow towards him. "I'll fight with you in this tournament, I'll stay by your side as long as I can and return whenever you need me for another fight. I do have other worlds I need to go to though…" Naruto explained then mused and Kratos scoffed, placing his blades onto his back and glaring at the boy soon after.

"Why would I want a whelp like you to fight with me?" The man questioned and Naruto twitched and glared right back at the man.

"Because I'm the only person here that's actually crazy enough to help you… and because you need a mortal like me or you can't get in." Naruto replied and Kratos frowned before crossing her arms and turning to the doors.

"Just stay out of my way. Once I slay Zeus this partnership is over." He grumbled and Naruto chuckled in his throat before turning to the doors as they slowly slid open.

"I figured as much. And don't worry; I didn't want this partnership to be permanent either. Just don't try to kill me before then and we'll get along fine." Naruto replied in kind while walking into the Coliseum with a grumbling Kratos beside him…

--

(??)

Axel looked at his Nobody body with an annoyed feeling in the back of his mind. "Wait… why am I annoyed?" Axel questioned and heard the cloaked old man chuckle in his throat as they wandered around Castle-Oblivion. "What's so funny?" Axel demanded and the old man turned to look at him with a smirk across his features.

"That you know so little about what you truly are." The man replied and Axel growled low in his throat. "What do you know of the Mind, Heart, Body, and Soul?" The old man then questioned and Axel tilted his head to one side.

"The mind, made up of memories and experiences. The Body, the physical shell we're born with. The Heart, that which allows us to feel and express emotion. The Soul, the inner essence that allows us to live." Axel replied and the old man slowly nodded his head then cross his arms behind his back.

"Yes. A textbook answer, Axel. Now, what is strongest out of those things?" The old man questioned and Axel frowned towards him.

"The Heart of course, with it, you can do things that would otherwise be impossible." The Nobody responded and the old man stopped and let out a laugh.

"Well, I suppose that is true. However, the Heart is the weakest component of existence. In truth, it's easiest to break a heart, to shatter it, its hardest to regain your light after it is consumed by Darkness… and a Heart never fully leaves that Darkness either, staining the heart with its powers." The old man explained with a soft tone and then sighed while shaking his head.

"So, if that's the case, what IS the strongest component of existence?" Axel asked curiously and the old man smiled slightly from the shadows of his hood.

"The body is stronger than the heart, the mind is stronger than the body, and the soul is stronger than all the rest." The man explained and saw Axel shake his head.

"Alright, but what does that have to do with me feeling annoyed?" Axel questioned and the old man chuckled once more.

"Do you know how our hearts are born, Axel?" The old man questioned and Axel tilted his head once more.

"Well… they come from Kingdom Hearts." He replied and the old man shook his head.

"No. How they are born, not where they come from. Kingdom Hearts is nothing but a link between all hearts. It is where they are created, but not how they are born. In Existence we start off as an infant. We are a body and a soul, but our heart and minds have not yet fully developed." The old man explained and Axel frowned while crossing his spindly limbs over his chest…

"Alright… then if that's the case, as time goes on from infancy to adolescence, our hearts and minds start to fully develop." Axel guessed and the old man nodded his head once more.

"Correct. Thus, the heart is born. With a Nobody, something else happens. A Nobody is a Body with Memories, it doesn't have the soul necessary to create a Heart, but… you, and those like you in Organization XIII did. You still had your souls, and, over time, you noticed that your emotions were becoming real. Xemnas knew that if you all expressed your false emotions, you'd start to regain your hearts, but, that is also why he was so insistent on his plan." The old man explained sagely and Axel shook his head and looked at the man in shock.

"Wait, what? What was Xemnas plan if not to reclaim our hearts?" Axel questioned and the old man scowled deeply from beneath his hood.

"Xemnas sought the powers of Kingdom Hearts, rather, a false Kingdom Hearts so that he might gain ultimate power and reshape our universe as he saw fit." The old man replied and Axel shook, then lashed out with his chakrams, throwing them at a wall where they sliced through it easily.

"That dirty bastard… Roxas… it was all for nothing after all. All the hearts we trapped, was only so he could get more power." Axel grumbled out while his shoulders shook and the old man shook his head slowly.

"No. Not for nothing Axel. Look at yourself, you have started to reclaim your heart, piece-by-piece it has slowly returned to you. We need only reclaim your soul and you can live your life as you see fit." The old man reminds and Axel breathes out and then calls his chakrams back before absorbing them into his body.

"Then why are we here instead of looking for my soul?" Axel questioned and the old man chuckled while turning around, spotting another Dusk like where Axel had been.

"Tell me Axel, what happens to a superior Nobody when it loses all of its power during battle?" The old man questioned and Axel tilted his head to one side with a confused posture.

"It devolves into a Dusk." He replied and the old man nodded his head before holding out the Forde. "Wait… I know those knives." Axel said slowly while the old man walked over to the Dusk and saw it lung at the knives, swiping its hands at them before the old man placed a foot on its back to hold it down.

"Listen here, if you promise to aide me, I will return your power to you. What's more, I'll help you find your soul as I'm helping Axel here… do we have a deal?" The old man explained then asked while looking down at the Dusk and it rapidly nodded its head in agreement. Chuckling in his throat, the old man tossed the knives into the air and removed his boot from the Nobodies back at the same time. Instantly, the Dusk jumped into the air and its fingers ripped free of the bands holding them into a sharp point. Grasping the eight knives the Dusk was consumed in a sphere of lightning before landing on the ground in a new form.

Like Axel and most other Nobodies it had black skin, a Pumpkin shaped grin, and talons for fingers, unlike other Nobodies, it was wearing a white hooded cloak with a Nobody insignia on its back, the cloak wrapping around its legs and feet like pants and boots, the sleeves belling out at its wrists and covering most of its hands while a zipper was down the front of it, two more present on its legs, last, it seemed more slender than even Axel, bearing a more angular body as well similar to a Dancer…

"Larxene…" Axel guessed only for the female Nobody to tackle him and start hitting him repeatedly. Sighing the old man walked over to the two Nobodies and pulled the female off of Axel as he quickly flipped to his feet and formed his Chakrams.

"Traitor!" Larxene stated darkly and the old man sighed.

"Put your petty differences aside, we have work to do and Souls to locate." The old man grumbled and Larxene looked at him then Axel.

"And how are we supposed to do that, lord of ages passed?" Larxene mocked smarmily and the old man released her before kicking her in the back. "Hey!" Larxene growled while getting back to her feet and the old man crossed his arms with a slim frown across his face.

"This is neither the time nor the place for this. Come, we start looking for your souls in the Old Mansion of Twilight Town." The old man stated before opening a Dark Corridor, Axel and Larxene looking at one another warily.

"I'm not going first, she'll just stab me in the back!" Axel stated and Larxene twitched while looking at him.

"Shut up." She grumbled and walked through the corridor, the old man and Axel following after her…

--

(Coliseum of the Gods…)

Naruto stood next to Kratos as they looked around the coliseum, patrons watching the match in the stands along with the remaining gods in a boxed off area. Looking down from his seat, Zeus the mighty god of Olympus himself scowled deeply. "Who is that who stands with Kratos, Hades?" The God asked of his Elder brother and Hades grumbled deep in his throat before looking down and then moved forward, eyes widening at the sight of Dark-Heart hanging off of Naruto's back.

"**The Dark Key-Bearer…"** Hades said in shock and Zeus looked to him before gritting his teeth and clenched his fists.

"So, this foolish Key-Bearer thinks he can meddle in our worlds affairs? Fine then, I trust you have someone who can defeat them both Hades." Zeus growled out before looking to his elder brother and the ancient deity slowly nodded his head.

"**Yes, one whose time has passed, he agreed to fight for us in exchange for his life and safe passage home. The other hails from another world, who wishes for a way home."** The deity replied while holding up a hand, two figures made of fire appearing in his palm and Zeus frowned while looking to his brother.

"Are you certain that they can defeat, Kratos and this Dark Key-Bearer?" Poseidon questioned from beside of Zeus and Hades chuckled slightly while looking to the two warriors in his hand. One wielding a massive single edged sword, the other, a gun and metal tipped claws and boots…

"**Yes my Brother, Together they hold greater strength than any other mortal on our own world."** Hades replied and then clenched his fist onto the two flaming warriors as a grin crossed his gruesome features… **"And should they fail, I still have even more, even greater warriors waiting for the chance to battle…"** Hades reminds Poseidon with a chuckle and the God of the Seas smirks before looking to Zeus, the youngest of them nodding his head.

"Very well then…" Zeus said before slowly rising up and making his way forward, standing and looking down at the assembled mortal warriors, plus one Key-Bearer and Kratos… "Warriors! I welcome you to this Tournament, a true Challenge of your skill and prowess!" Zeus exclaimed while holding his arms out and looking down at the many warriors. Ecstatic cries meet Zeus's words as the god smirked while looking down at the field of battle, Kratos gritting his teeth with a scowl from below.

"And, to the victor of this grand tournament shall go the spoils!" Zeus exclaimed before holding out a hand, producing what looked like a golden chest plate with a snake haired woman's head on it. "This, the Armor of Athena, the Aegis shall be but one of many rewards to the victor!" Zeus exclaimed and the warriors all cheered once more while Kratos shook his head and Naruto frowned. Smirking once more, Zeus turned on his heel and returned to his seat, holding out a hand soon after.

"Let the tournament begin!" He exclaimed loudly and ecstatic cries and calls of joy came from patrons and competitors alike. Frowning as he looked around, Naruto crossing his arms and shaking his head as he looked around.

"So that's how this guy works. He uses fear and intimidation to get their unwavering loyalty, then bribes them with power to force them to fight for him." Naruto noted and Kratos nodded his head.

"They are but empty promises. Any power from the gods would never come without a dire price." Kratos noted with a scowl while Naruto hummed in thought as the warriors started to calm. Before he could contemplate anything, a wind blew by before Hades appeared in the center of the ring.

"**Warriors! Today is a grand day for all, you shall be joined in battle, by great and powerful heroes from other worlds!"** Hades exclaimed and Kratos and Naruto both frowned. **"Those of you who are victorious in this round of the tournament, shall face these heroes to prove your metal!"** Hades then exclaimed a pair of shadowed figures watching on from a nearby room.

"Laying it on a little thick isn't he." One commented while scratching his spiky head of hair, his partner merely leaning into a wall and giving a soft hnn as his answer. "Jeez… why are you such a drag?" The spiky haired swordsman asked and got another hnn as his answer. "Oh never mind then…" He mumbled while turning to look out as Hades looked over the warriors on the ring.

"**Now, all Combatants should retire to the holds, there you will be called upon when it is time for you match."** Hades ordered while a doorway appeared near to the doorway they had come onto the arena from. All but Kratos and Naruto made their way to the holds, Kratos gritting his teeth as he glared at Hades, only for the god to chuckle as he vanished in a pillar of fire.

"I wonder who they got helping them from off world…" Naruto wondered aloud and Kratos crossed his arm with a scowl.

"It matters not what fools they have working for them, I will kill them all and tear Zeus's head from his shoulders." Kratos proclaims simply and Naruto merely made a hnn sound as he looked towards the Gods in their seats.

"Something tells me… it won't be that simple, Kratos." Naruto noted and Kratos looked at the boy for a moment out of the corner of his eye, then turned and made his way towards the holds.

"Things rarely are with the gods involved." Kratos admitted and Naruto followed after him into the holds, awaiting the call to battle…

--

TBC…

--

AN: I've recently got Dissidia Final-Fantasy, there is a chance for Cecil, Warrior of Light, Garland, and Golbez to appear in this story as a result. Also, anyone with ideas for two man teams of warriors Hades could bring to fight Naruto and Kratos would be appreciated. If I've played the game, seen the movie, or read the book / comic they come from, I'll try to put them in. Thus far I've got at least two characters in mind, though I have to wonder if anyone can guess whom…


	13. Warriors of Fantasy

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 12**_: _**Warriors of Fantasy**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Coliseum of the Gods…)

Naruto sat back with a bored expression across his face, leaning his head into one fist while sitting down on a bench and watching the other competitors train or talk to one another about the Tournament and its prizes. "Fools. The gods will turn any who win into their slaves." Kratos grumbled and Naruto turned a single eye towards him before rolling it and leaned back into the wall behind the bench.

"I just wish they'd hurry it up and call us out already." Naruto grumbled and Kratos nodded his head in agreement with the blond. "So, why did you even want to enter this tournament anyways?" Naruto asked with a raised brow and Kratos grunted before crossing his own arms.

"With Zeus here, I'll be able to get close enough to him to end his pathetic life once and for all." The man replied and Naruto decided he was better off not asking while turning to see a fight break out among the competitors.

"This happen often in arena's like this?" Naruto asked and Kratos scowled.

"How would I know? This is the only time I've ever fought in a Coliseum." Kratos reminded and Naruto shrugged his shoulders before hearing something and turned to see Hade's at the door to the ring.

"**Kratos, Naruto, you are the next competitors."** Hades ordered before vanishing into a pillar of fire and Kratos looked at the blond with a frown.

"What kind of name is Naruto?" He demanded and the blond twitched.

"It means maelstrom, Kratos…" He grumbled out angrily and Kratos frowned before getting up and making his way to the door. Following after the Ghost of Sparta, Naruto and the man walked out into the ring, several boo's coming from the patrons. As their opponents made their way onto the field cheers irrupted from the crowd, making Naruto shake his head with a frown. "Well, its clear there's no fan favorite here." The blond said sarcastically before pulling Dark-Heart from his back and the curved sword from beneath his coat out at the same time.

Noting that each of the warriors were basically soldier like fighters, bearing a sword and shield each, Naruto mentally groaned since he could take them on his own. Thus, if Kratos' help was added to the equation, it would be a cold day in hell before the two could even touch them. "Well, this should last all of two seconds." Naruto muttered and then flipped his short sword into a reverse grip while crouching down, Kratos unsheathed his Blades of Athena before crouching down as well.

"So, who…" Naruto started to ask only for Kratos to lunge forward with a roar, blinking from the shadows of his hood, Naruto sighed as Kratos threw one of his blades into the two men, stabbing him threw the chest. Reeling his arm and weapon back he grabbed the man's head before coming down to the ground, slamming his head into the ground and crushing his skull with his bear hands. The other warrior whimpered suddenly as Kratos turned his amber colored eyes to him and crouched back.

Shaking his head, the soldier roared as he ran towards Kratos, swinging his sword at the man. Twitching slightly, Kratos blocked the sword before slamming his head into the warriors. Stumbling back, the warrior was unable to block as Kratos stabbed forward and then lifted his arm, slicing the man cleanly in half down the middle. Blinking once the carnage was over, Naruto watched Kratos sheath his twin blades onto his back before walking over to the blond haired teen.

"You could've saved one for me." Naruto noted with a frown and Kratos scoffed.

"As I said before boy, I don't need your aide, you're here merely because your presence is required." Kratos stated simply and Naruto frowned towards Kratos, and then saw Hades appear in the center of the ring.

"Looks like those God's of yours are up to something." Naruto noted and Kratos turned with a scowl, growling when he saw the God of the Underworld.

"**Excellent work warriors, however, your battles have not come to a close yet. This is an ELIMINATION Tournament. You will fight until either the Tournament comes to a close, or your no longer among the living."** Hades stated in his low baritone voice and Kratos grit his teeth, the God leaving the arena afterwards, his demonic laughter echoing behind him.

"Does the treachery of the gods know no bounds?!" Kratos demanded and Naruto frowned while looking to Kratos.

"Even you can't take match after match of this without any form of rest." Naruto mused and got a glare from Kratos in response. "Here me out, if a warrior is constantly fighting he'll grow fatigued much faster than one who rests up. A warrior who wears himself out recklessly fighting everything that comes his way will only led himself to defeat." Naruto said sagely and Kratos scoffed before crossing his arms over his chest.

"You'll get the brunt of this boy, since no one knows you, the next few fighters will almost strictly target you." Kratos states flatly and Naruto grunted with a grimace beyond the shadows of his hood.

"As if I didn't have enough to worry about." Naruto muttered with a shake of his head and then sighed before leaning Dark-Heart into his shoulder. "Oh well, I can hold my own in a fight, you just keep the big one's off me and I'll deal with the fast ones." Naruto stated and Kratos frowned deeply.

"No." He grumbled and Naruto blinked before looking to the man.

"Wait, what?" Naruto demanded and Kratos looked at him with a scowl.

"A true warrior gains strength and experience by fighting enemies with skills that would otherwise cripple them. I'll deal with any fast enemies… you take the big ones." Kratos ordered and Naruto glared at the former god with a deep scowl.

"You think you know everything don't you." Naruto grumbled out while crossing his arms and Kratos scoffed.

"I was the God of War boy, and you need to pull your weight around if you'll be fighting with me." Kratos reminds and then pulls his blades from his back as two more warriors make their way out. "Enough chatter, our next opponents approach!" Kratos stated and Naruto turned his head and blinked upon seeing a massive man with a giant battleax and light leather armor, probably a Berserker. The other was a small man with two knives in hand wearing light clothing and armor, his shrouded features leaning towards an Assassin.

"Great, a Berserker and an Assassin. It's almost like we're fighting copies of our basic styles." Naruto noted and Kratos scowled as his response.

"They will still fall before the God of War!" Kratos stated and Naruto smirked.

"Former, God of War." He reminded the bald warrior and Kratos grit his teeth before lunging at the Assassin. Sighing, Naruto lunged forward as well, heading straight for the Berserker as he ran towards him. Jumping out of the way of the Berserker's ax as he got closer, Naruto kneed the massive man in the head before placing his hands on his shoulders and flipping over him. Landing behind the giant of a man Naruto quickly rammed into the Berserker's back, attempting to knock him forward.

However, instead the Berserker dug his feet into the dirt in order to steady himself before twisting on his heel and swings his ax at Naruto once more. Cursing, Naruto flipped over the ax and then landed in a low crouch. "Great, slow, but extremely resilient…" Naruto murmured under his breath before flipping back several times to avoid an overhead swing from the Berserker.

Growling low in his throat, the Berserker rushed towards Naruto, swinging his Ax once more. Chuckling lightly, Naruto flipped over the ax and then kicked off of the Berserker's chest and landed back in a low crouch on the ground. Lunging forward once more, Naruto evaded the Berserker's ax once more before stabbing his Dark-Heart Keyblade into the mammoth's chest. "Open your heart…" Naruto muttered under his breath, eyes turning a dark yellow once more.

"Surrender it to the Darkness…" He murmured softly as a black and purple mass formed at the spot where Dark-Heart was burrowed into the Berserker's chest. "Become Darkness itself!" He ordered loudly while turning the Keyblade, the Berserker letting out an unearthly scream as black and purple energy flowed from the massive Berserker, a Dark-Ball appearing for a moment before vanishing into the shadows. Twirling Dark-Heart back and placing it onto his back, Naruto turned to see Kratos was long finished with the Assassin.

"It's about time boy." Kratos grumbled out and Naruto shrugged his shoulders before turning as the next pair of warriors came forward.

"Not giving us any time to rest are they." Naruto noted and Kratos gripped the handles of his twin blades while crouching down.

"Shut up and prepare for battle whelp!" Kratos growled out and Naruto hummed slightly while holding his Short sword in a defensive stance, removing Dark-Heart from his back as he did so. As their next opponents rushed towards them, Naruto's eyes turned a dark gold once more, a sinister look crossing his features as he did…

--

(Twilight Town…)

"How are we supposed to know what a Soul even looks like?" Axel complained as he and Larxene looked around the library of the old mansion. Haphazardly tossing books around the room from their places on the shelves.

"How should I know? That old fart didn't say anything but follow your heart! Ha! I don't even have a heart!" Larxene said with an un-amused demeanor and Axel shook his head before crossing his arms.

"According to the old man, with our Souls and Memories intact, we can create new hearts for ourselves… Kind of like a second chance when you think about it." Axel noted with a slight nod of his head and Larxene would have scowled if she could have.

"What good is having a heart anyway, all it leads too is pain." The female nobody said flippantly before making her way out of the library, Axel raising a brow as she left.

"Something horrible happened to her." The old man's voice echoed out and Axel yelped while turning around to face him.

"Jeez! Would you not sneak up on me like that… thought I was going to have a heart attack." The Nobody muttered under his breath while the Old Man smirked and made his way passed Axel. "What did you mean, something horrible happened to her?" Axel then questioned of the aging warrior and the said old man turned his head to look at the Nobody with a thin frown.

"Have you located your soul in this place, Axel?" The old man questioned while ignoring Axel's question and Axel sighed before crossing his arms.

"No, and you being vague on finding the thing isn't helping." Axel returns with a frown and the old man smirks slightly.

"Is it vague? Perhaps you've merely forgotten. Forgotten, that place where your heart grew stronger." The old man said cryptically and Axel blinked while the old man made his way out of the room. "We're leaving the Mansion, find Larxene, we'll be searching the rest of Twilight Town before we go to our next world." The old man ordered and Axel slowly nodded his head as the old man wandered out of the room.

"The place… where my Heart grew stronger?" Axel questioned, arms crossed over his chest before his head suddenly shot up, a memory passing before him. In it he saw himself and Roxas sitting on a clock tower, however, a girl seemed to be sitting with them as they munched on some icecream…

Gasping and falling to his knees, Axel placed his hands to his head. "W-what was that just now? A memory? And, if it was, then who was that girl I saw?" Axel wondered before shaking his head and slowly standing back up. "Maybe in that place…" Axel whispered before wandering out of the library to find Larxene, now with a specific destination in mind…

--

(Coliseum of the Gods…)

Naruto sunk Dark-Heart into another combatant, turning him into another Heartless while Kratos threw his own opponent into the ground and then slammed down into him, crushing the man beneath his feet. "Pathetic." Kratos grumbled with a frown while Naruto leaned Dark-Heart into his shoulder. "Do you not have anything better than this to face me Zeus!?" Kratos demanded while looking up towards the gods, Naruto groaning and shaking his head as he did so.

"Why must you provoke them…?" Naruto mumbled under his breath while looking over to the Ghost of Sparta with a frown. Above them Zeus clenches his fists at his sides, eyes narrowing slightly before looking over to Hades.

"Are your warriors ready, Hades?" Zeus questioned and Hades chuckled before nodding his head. "Good. Then let them do battle with Kratos and the boy… I wish to see a much more amusing battle." Zeus states and Hades merely nodded his head before standing and walking forward. Looking down at Kratos, Hades then slammed his fist down and a set of iron gates suddenly opened at the end of the arena.

"Well, looks like you get your wish, Kratos." Naruto noted while crouching down with his blades at his sides, Kratos narrowing his eyes as two figures walked passed the gate.

The first was Kratos height, he had long spikes of black hair swept backwards with two spiky bangs hanging into his face, silver earings, fair skin with a muscular build, and bright azure blue eyes with a green ring around his pupils. He was wearing a sleeveless navy-blue turtleneck with brown waist armor with a symbol on the front, suspender like straps reaching up over his shirt with silver pauldrons on his shoulders, a pair of black leather gloves over each hand, black calf length boots, and two black belts below his brown waist armor. Held in one hand and leaned against one shoulder was a massive single edged sword with two holes in it, gold markings beside of the holes, and a red handle with a gold pommel.

The second had long black hair forming into numerous wavy spikes, a red headband around his forehead while his bright crimson eyes contrasted with his deathly pale skin. He was dressed in a black jacket with a belt around his waist, a gun holster strapped to his right thigh and attached to his belt, a pair of black knee high boots with gold plates over the toes, a golden claw on his left hand reaching up to his forearm, a black glove on his right hand, and a long tattered red cloak trailing from his shoulders with straps over the front.

In one hand the man held an odd silver revolver with three wolf heads engraved onto its three barrels, three gold hammers were visible at the back, and a short chain came from the end of the revolvers handle before ending with a three headed cross.

"Looks like we're up, which one do you want?" The man with the massive sword asked while looking to his partner.

"It doesn't matter to me either way." The red-eyed man replied quietly and his partner looked between Naruto and Kratos before nodding his head.

"Right, then I'll handle the bald one while you deal with the kid." He offered while crouching into a stance and the vampire like man nodded his head while holding up his gun. "Right then, let's go Vincent!" The black haired man exclaimed before lunging towards Kratos, rolling his eyes, "Vincent" held his gun up and then crouched down before lunging towards Naruto. Gritting his teeth, Naruto lunged at Vincent while Kratos went after the still unnamed black haired man.

As Kratos approached his opponent, he mentally noticed the man was far more skilled than those he'd faced in the Tournament thus far. The man also carried himself differently, keeping his sword on his back rather than using it. _'What good is a sword if you never use it?'_ Kratos mentally wondered before throwing his Blades towards the man with a roar.

In response to the attack, the man rolled out of the blades, a flaming crater left in their wake. Giving a low whistle the man then lashed out at the blades, grabbing one of the chains of the blades. Smirking, the man then pulled back on it, Kratos merely digging his feet into the ground and holding his ground. Pulling his other blade back to his hand, Kratos then threw it at the man. In response he rolled to the side to evade it before grasping that blades chain as well. Growling low in his throat, Kratos pulled on the chains bound to his arms, gritting his teeth in response the black haired man dug his heels into the dirt and surprisingly managed to stop himself from being pulled towards Kratos.

"Humph, your strong for a mortal." Kratos stated and the man nodded his head before holding a hand towards Kratos.

"True, but strength isn't everything…" He mused aloud, flames forming in his hand before flying from his fingers and slamming into Kratos's chest, sending him flying back from the impact. Growling in outrage the former God of War flipped back to his feet and then reared his arms back, ripping his blades from the ground and grasping them in his outstretched fingers. Growling, Kratos narrowed his amber eyes on the black haired man, watching as he crouched into another stance without his sword.

"What use is that sword if not as a weapon?" Kratos demanded and the man blinked before taking a serious expression.

"It's not just a weapon, it's a reminder of an old friend." The man replied and then charged forward, growling Kratos swung his Blades at the man, watching as he rolled and jumped out of the way. "Now I'll prove my honor!" The man stated as his eyes began to glow a bright blue. Lunging forward with surprising speed the man lashed out at Kratos with a serious of rapped punches before lunging away. Landing against the wall of the arena he then lunged back at Kratos with several more punches to the man's back.

Finally, he quickly flipped away and brought his hands to his sides, a bright blue energy forming over them. "Lets end this!" He exclaimed before lunging forward, arms stretched forward he rammed into Kratos and then slid to a halt behind him as the energy exploded against the former God of War. "Well, I hope that's over…" The man said quietly only to take a step back seeing Kratos standing in the middle of the kicked up dust from the attack, amber eyes burning with hatred.

"What's your name warrior?" Kratos demanded and the man narrowed his eyes.

"Zack." He replied and Kratos nodded his head while crouching down.

"Zack… I'll remember that name…" He said angrily before lunging forward jumping into the air and brought his blades down on Zack…

Meanwhile Naruto was running as Vincent fired his gun at him, mentally cursing the silent warrior, Naruto threw a hand towards the man. "Deep Freeze!" He exclaimed, a ball of ice flying towards Vincent. Spotting the attack, Vincent flipped over the attack and then held his gun up as he landed in a crouch. Reaching into his cloak the man then extracted an odd yellow stone on a chain and quickly replaced the chain already on his gun for the yellow stone.

"Thunder." He uttered lowly while firing a bolt of lightning from his gun straight for Naruto. Cursing under his breath and rolling out of the way of the attack Naruto then lunged for the man, both Keyblade and Short-Sword in hand. Reaching into his cloak once more Vincent quickly added two more attachments to his gun with surprising speed. Holding the gun out he then fired off several bolts of lightning towards Naruto. Cursing all Lightning users in his mind Naruto jumped and flipped around the bolts before coming into a low crouch with his eyes narrowed on Vincent.

"Your little toy is amusing, but I've got better things to do than play with you all day!" Naruto growled before lunging at Vincent, dodging more shots from the red cloaked back before swinging Dark-Heart at him. However, Vincent merely held his left hand up, the golden gauntlet he was wearing blocking the attack. "What… how are you holding it back?" Naruto demanded, since most people who even touched Dark-Heart were turned into a Heartless.

"Darkness can only consume those with weak wills…" The man offered simply before shoving Naruto back and then lashing out with a swipe of his claws and double kick, knocking Naruto back a distance. Grunting and then getting back to his feet Naruto growled low in his throat before slamming a hand into the ground. Instantly a black portal opened beneath Naruto and the blond ducked into it and out of sight.

'_So, a Darkness user, if he didn't utilize a Ninja Class style I'd almost assume he was a Dark-Knight. As it is his prowess with Darkness is limited, he takes too much time to move through his portals and I can even see them when they start to open…_' Vincent thought to himself as he spotted a small dark opening appearing before him. Narrowing his eyes Vincent looked around for the blond only to backup several paces as he came out of a portal before him.

"Witness my darkness!" Naruto exclaimed as both Dark-Heart and his Short-Sword were covered by a tangible dark aura. Narrowing his eyes Vincent quickly fired off several rounds at the blond haired boy. Moving in an oddly intricate way Naruto easily evaded the shots before suddenly vanishing once more. Grunting, Vincent quickly reloaded his gun before rolling out of the way as Naruto two weapons reached out of the ground where he'd been seconds before.

Crawling out of the portal in the ground Naruto growled under his breath towards Vincent fiercely. Watching the blond with a small frown, Vincent shook his head as the youth twirled his weapons in hand while glaring towards him fiercely. "So, you use the power of Darkness… nothing new there." Vincent mused with his dull monotone voice and Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Just shut up and fight!" He exclaimed before lunging for the man, Vincent aiming his weapon at the blond once more.

Meanwhile Kratos was running from a series of Fireballs Zack was projecting from one hand. Jumping onto the side of the arena wall Kratos ran along it, Hermes Sandals glowing as he did so. Jumping off of the wall and into the air, Kratos reared his arms back and plowed into the ground, causing a miniature earthquake and knocking Zack off balance. Lunging for the man Kratos quickly swung his dual-chain blades towards him.

Cursing Zack turned in midair and placed his hand onto the ground before pushing further upwards, just enough to miss the Chain Blades cutting him to pieces. Breathing a sigh of relief, Zack flipped in the air and then lunged towards Kratos, connecting a flying roundhouse kick to the man's head. Grunting, Kratos was sent flying back, but used his blades to slow and soon stop himself before hitting the wall. Spitting out a bit of blood Kratos gritted his teeth and lunged forward.

Rushing forward Kratos started to glow with a brilliant crimson light. _'I don't know what that is, but it can't be good.'_ Zack noted to himself inwardly and then cursed as Kratos suddenly lunged forward with blinding speed, stabbing his blades at him. Missing the black haired man Kratos roared before twisting on his heel and spinning like a windmill, chain blades still lashing out at Zack.

Flipping back to avoid the attack, Zack landed in a low crouch as Kratos then flipped in midair, throwing his chain blades down towards him where they hit the ground, creating miniature tremors. Evading the chain blades Zack threw a fireball towards Kratos, only for the former god to bat it away. Shocked Zack then watched as Kratos pulled himself down to the ground to ram into him. Cursing, Zack quickly pulled his sword from his back and blocked with gritted teeth.

Swinging the massive sword Zack threw Kratos back, the Ex-Spartan General flipping in midair and landing in a low crouch, the red glow vanishing. "So you CAN use that ridiculous sword of yours…" Kratos noted with a scowl while Zack looked to the Buster Sword for a moment and then closed his eyes.

"My life is a little more important than my sword…" Zack stated with a slight amused smirk as Kratos gritted his teeth and rushed forward. Frowning Zack took a step back and then launched himself forward with a roar. Seeing this, Kratos twisted on his heel to block with the gold plated armor on his right arm, stopping Zack's sword in its tracks, the blue-eyed man looking at him in surprise.

"Since your no longer holding back…" Kratos growled out and then batted Zack back, the man flipping in the air and landing in a low crouch. "Then neither shall I!" Kratos roared out loudly, then placed his chain blades onto his back and held his hand to one side. What appeared was an odd glowing blue broadsword, the hilt made up of what looked like people holding the "Pillars" that made the base of the blade up.

"So you have more weapons than just those two chain swords." Zack said to himself while Kratos leaned his own weapon into his shoulders.

"Now then worm… you will know the full fury of the God of War!" Kratos exclaimed while clenching his free hand and Zack scoffed.

"You're a god?" He asked with a flat look and Kratos narrowed his eyes. "Well then, looks like I really can't hold anything back against you." Zack noted and then brought his sword back and crouched down. Gritting his teeth Kratos lunged forward, swinging the Blade of Olympus down on Zack who blocked with his Buster Sword. Grunting the man found himself being pushed back by the sheer force Kratos and his sword were creating.

"You should know your place worm!" Kratos exclaimed while throwing Zack back with the Blade of Olympus. Grunting Zack dug his Buster-Sword into the ground in order to stop himself before he hit the side of the arena, looking up at Kratos with a thin frown over his face.

"Know my place? Just who do you think you are?" Zack demanded and Kratos merely held the Blade of Olympus with both hands before lunging forward. Running at Zack he slammed his own sword into Zack's once more, the black haired man gritting his teeth as he tried to hold the sheer strength and power of Kratos back. "If you were really a god… you would've crushed me by now…" Zack noted and Kratos narrowed his eyes.

"Be silent boy!" Kratos roared out swinging the blade of Olympus and knocking Zack to the side. Flipping in the air and coming down in a skidding crouch, Zack held his Buster-Sword to one side as he glared towards Kratos.

"No more, I won't let you beat me here… I'm breaking my Limits!" He then exclaimed before lunging forward, coming at Kratos with lightning flowing over his body. Growling, Kratos lunged forward as well, swinging the Blade of Olympus into Zack's Buster-Sword. However he then watched on in shock as a single ivory white-feathered angel's wing unfurled from the man's left shoulder.

"What treachery is this?!" Kratos demanded while Zack opened his brightly glowing blue eyes then threw Kratos back.

"Octo-Slash!" He exclaimed as he then rushed towards Kratos rapidly swinging his Buster-Sword and connecting with the man before twisting on his heel and sending the man flying. Crouching down Zack then lunged into the sky, his wing flapping as he brought his Buster-Sword down on Kratos, the man barely having the time to block before he was sent flying into the ground below.

Panting slightly Zack gently floated back to the ground and landed with one knee to the ground. "Sorry, but I have someone I need to get back to… I made a promise…" Zack whispered before looking up in shock as a panting Kratos walked out of the dust, body littered with slashes and cuts.

"This is not over yet boy." Kratos stated darkly and put the Blade of Olympus away, then held a glowing bow towards the man. "This battle is only just beginning!" Kratos stated as he fired off an arrow of wind towards the man. Cursing Zack rolled out of the way and then fired a Fireball at the man. Growling, Kratos used the armor on his right arm to bat the fireball right back at Zack, the younger man cursing as he ducked out of the fireballs path.

'_Something tells me, this is going to be a very long day…'_ Zack noted as he then held his Buster-Sword out towards Kratos once more…

Meanwhile, Naruto lunged at Vincent while swiping his short-sword, the man moving back to evade it before lashing out with his claws. Blocking the claws with his short-sword Naruto swung Dark-Heart at the man. Ducking below the attack Vincent flipped, kicking Naruto and knocking him back at the same time. Rolling into a crouch, Naruto narrowed his eyes onto Vincent with a deep scowl across his face.

"Why are you fighting? What does fighting for these gods get you?" Naruto demanded and Vincent closed his eyes for a single second before looking at Naruto with his Gun aimed for his head.

"A way home…" He replied simply before firing at Naruto the youth blocking the bullet with Dark-Heart before narrowing his eyes.

"Is that all? You choose to fight for those insignificant beings all for the sake of returning home?" Naruto demanded and Vincent remained silent while lunging forward, swinging his claw at the young blond. Growling in his throat, Naruto lunged at Vincent once more, swinging both of his blades at the man and locking them with the mans gun. Throwing the gun upwards Naruto spun on his heel, knocking Dark-Heart into Vincent's waist and sending him flying back.

Turning on his heel Naruto then launched at Vincent and swung his Short-Sword at the man. Blocking with his gun, Vincent and Naruto both broke apart from one another, Vincent rolling into a crouch while Naruto flipped into the air and landed on his feet with both blades in hand. Cracking his neck, Naruto then channeled some dark energy into his weapons as his eyes turned a brighter gold. "Dark Edge!" He exclaimed while twisting on his heel and swinging Dark-Heart, a beam of black and purple energy sliding from the blade and along the ground towards the man.

Upon seeing the beam, Vincent flipped out of the way, only to look on in surprise and Naruto turned on his other heel and swung his Short-Sword towards him. Black and purple energy reached from the short-sword, traveling along the ground before slamming into Vincent, sending him flying back. Flipping back onto his feet Vincent frowned while Naruto suddenly jumped up and fell into a Dark-Portal. Raising a brow, Vincent then rolled out of the way as Naruto came out of the ground below him, vanishing into another portal in the air once it formed.

Raising a brow at this Vincent then got up and ran as Naruto rapidly appeared and disappeared out of portals forming below him. Rolling out of the way of a final portal and turning at the same time, Vincent saw Naruto come out of the next portal and then lunge at him. Spinning as he lunged for Vincent Naruto held both of his weapons towards the man. Frowning, Vincent swung his claw upwards as Naruto got close, knocking the boy upwards where he then held his gun towards him.

Widening his golden eyes as he looked at Vincent, Naruto quickly formed a portal as Vincent fired. Disappearing into the portal just in time to avoid loosing his head, Naruto fell out and landed on the ground with panting breaths. "Impressive, you're definitely more skilled than the back water freaks I've fought on other worlds thus far…" Naruto noted while pushing himself up to his feet, glaring at Vincent as he did so.

"But there's no way I can lose here, I still have something I need to accomplish!" Naruto stated darkly as Vincent's shadow suddenly lengthened and seemed to touch his own. The shadow seemed to mingle with Naruto's before taking a disturbingly familiar shape behind the youth. The form then seemed to infiltrate Naruto; slowly it merged with his own until a dark purple light formed around the boy, wisps of darkness rising off of his body ominously. The blond haired boy suddenly lashed out, moving at blinding speed he slammed Dark-Heart into Vincent.

Flipping in midair the black haired man flipped in midair to land in a low crouch, dragging his claw threw the dirt to halt himself. Looking around warily, Vincent spotted Naruto as he flipped into the air before dropping into a black portal. Frowning and slowly rising up Vincent's eyes widened as Naruto then rose out of the ground before him, eyes glowing an eerie yellow through his hood.

"Come now, show me your Darkness…" Naruto said darkly his voice shifting to a much darker tone as his glowing yellow eyes loomed in the darkness of his cloak. Firing at the blond, Vincent was shocked when he vanished and then reappeared behind him, lashing out with several lightning fast swings of Dark-Heart and his short sword, the blade moving at such speed that many of the swings appeared more as though they were distortions in the air. The slashes of the two blades tore threw Vincent, before sending him flying back.

Flipping in midair Vincent skidded along the ground before stopping and narrowed his eyes on the blond youth. Eyes suddenly glowing brightly, Naruto held both of his weapons at his sides before crouching down. "I'll send you into the depths of Darkness!" Naruto growled out while crouching back, taking a stance that Vincent knew all too well. Narrowing his now bright golden eyes Naruto crouched back before vanishing once more and appearing before a surprised Vincent. _'He's moving faster than before…'_ Vincent noticed while Naruto swung Dark-Heart and his short sword at the same time, both covered by dark-energy.

"Take this!" He exclaimed as he twisted in the air, swinging both weapons into Vincent almost a dozen times before twirling both blades at his sides and bringing them up in a slash, sending the man into the air. Smirking, the blond then followed after Vincent and used an ax-kick to knock the man back into the ground. Following him through the air, Naruto reared back one arm and through Dark-Heart down at Vincent. Vincent quickly rolled out of the way however and then twisted onto his feet as he watched Naruto land, then take hold of Dark-Heart once more.

Seeing this from his position, Zack knocked Kratos back and then stabbed his sword into the ground. Clapping his hands together as if in pray the man remembered someone important to him. Smiling as the memories came a ring of light flowed from beneath the man, a green wind flowing around him and then Vincent. "Healing Wind." The man whispered and Vincent suddenly stood up while Zack grabbed his Buster-Sword and rushed over to his side.

"I didn't ask for your help." Vincent stated while watching Naruto and Zack rolled his eyes.

"Just helping out a friend of a friend." Zack replied and Vincent looked to him out of the corner of one eye before nodding his head. "So, got any ideas, that Kratos guy over there is tougher than he looks, and he looked pretty tough to begin with." Zack questioned then commented and Vincent looked towards the former God of War warily before returning his eyes to the blond haired youth who was still eerily glowing.

"No. But the boy is stronger than I thought as well… but he just suddenly got a boost so I'm not too surprised." Vincent noted and Zack raised a brow.

"Limit-Break?" He asked and Vincent frowned.

"Possibly… however it seems to be lasting too long for that." Vincent noted and Zack narrowed his eyes as Kratos made his way over to them.

"Right… want to trade up then?" Zack asked and Vincent looked towards Kratos.

"No. One on one isn't working here, we need to work together." Vincent noted and Zack looked around with a frown before nodding his head.

"Ten to one, these guys don't work well together." Zack offered and Vincent nodded his head in agreement. "Alright then, lets do this!" Zack stated and lunged for Kratos, Vincent following him. Blinking in surprise, Naruto cursed as he rushed after Vincent and Zack. Coming closer to the former God of War, Zack suddenly twisted on his heel and threw a beam of energy from his blade towards the man. As he did, Vincent fired a lightning-bolt towards Naruto. Both Naruto and Kratos evaded the attacks however; Vincent then flipped into the air and fired Cerberus at Kratos.

Grunting as he was hit Kratos flew back from the shot and then grunted as he got back up. Behind them, Naruto came swinging both his weapons at Vincent only for Zack to block with his Buster-Sword. Pushing Naruto back with the massive sword Zack then threw a fireball at the blond youth. Cursing, Naruto quickly threw an Ice attack at the fireball stopping it in its tracks while Vincent came down behind Zack. Roaring Kratos got back to his feet and rushed towards Vincent with a furious look in his eyes.

Narrowing his own eyes Vincent fired at Kratos once more, Kratos blocking with his armor. However, Zack then reached out and grabbed one of Vincent's arms before twisting on his heel and throwing the other man straight for Kratos. Lashing out with his claw and boots once he was close enough, Vincent slammed cut into the man before firing a lightning bolt into the former God of War's head, sending him skidding back as he came down in a low crouch.

Meanwhile, Zack blocked both of Naruto's blades with his own massive sword before throwing the blond back. Crouching down, Zack then lunged at the blond haired youth and swung his Buster-Sword down on him. Cursing under his breath Naruto quickly moved into a Dark-Corridor to evade. Sliding to a halt, Zack looked around for the blond even as he appeared behind him. However a shot from Vincent rang out, nailing Naruto in the side and sending him sprawling out on the ground.

"Thanks Vincent!" Zack said with a nod towards the man and Vincent merely nodded before turning back to Kratos as he got up, face scorched yet healing.

"You will pay for that!" Kratos growled out before lunging for the man, swinging his blades at him. Frowning, Vincent's eyes suddenly started to glow an ominous crimson color before a bright light suddenly consumed the man. Swinging his blades down at the light, Kratos was shocked as something took hold of his blades from within it.

What was revealed was what looked like a large blue werewolf with bright yellow eyes, long wild white hair, two curved horns from its head, a silver object over its chest, a silver claw replacing the gold one Vincent had with his right hand and arm covered by a black glove with his claws visible, his pants lay tattered on the beast with his cloak worn like a kilt around his waist, silver bangles were present over his ankles and feet, and black wild vines formed into spikes over its shoulders, and red fur arching off of its chin like a wild beard of some kind.

Growling low in its throat the beast pulled Kratos to it before lashing out with its monstrous claws. Slamming them into the man with fireballs visible in them and then sending him flying back with a quick kick. Roaring out the former man then threw a ball of energy towards Kratos, the energy slamming into him and throwing him into the arena wall once it did. Cracking his neck and getting back up with a grunt Kratos looked towards the beast hatefully before his own form was covered by a fierce red energy of some kind. Roaring the former god of war lunged at the beast before ramming into it with all of his strength.

As that was happening Naruto was facing off against Zack, lunging forward the young blond swung his weapons at the man. Zack merely blocked with his Buster-Sword and then twisted on one heel, swinging at the youthful Dark-Warrior. Flipping back to avoid the swing Naruto watched Zack silently while contemplating what he should do next. _'Fighting isn't really an option anymore, while Kratos has more power than these two they've got us beat in teamwork, and it seems like they also have us beat in magical ability with Healing Spells allowing them to go on and on… man I really need to learn one of those.'_ Naruto noted then mused as he blocked a swing from Zack that pushed him back from the force of the man's swing.

'_These two won't just give up and surrender, their getting tired and we could probably outlast them but to be honest it'll take a toll on me and Kratos as well and we still have more battles ahead of us… think Naruto think! There has to be a way to settle this quickly… wait, of course!'_ Naruto thinks to himself as he ducks under a swing from Zack before rolling forward and kicking the man's feet out from under him. Quickly, the blond then vanished and reappeared where Kratos was throwing the transformed Vincent away from himself.

"Kratos, I think I know how we can stop these two." Naruto said quickly and Kratos gave him a glare.

"I already know how to stop them boy, take their heads off!" Kratos growled out and Naruto mentally groaned.

"Unfortunately we don't have that kind of time, thus far they've been dealing us heavy damage while that Zack guy healed any we did. We can't keep fighting them with the amount of teamwork they posses, and even if we do, we'll be completely worn out for our next battle. So unless you WANT those Gods of yours to win I'd suggest more planning!" Naruto reminds the former God of War and Kratos grits his teeth before slowly nodding his head.

"What do you have in mind?" He questions while Vincent gets back up, his form reverting back to normal.

"Just grab them. Don't attack, avoid their weapons and grab them. When you do, throw them at me." Naruto ordered and Kratos looked at the cloaked blond incredulously.

"That's your plan?!" He demanded and Naruto glared at him.

"We don't have time to talk, just do it!" Naruto orders while vanishing and Kratos grits his teeth before placing his blades onto his back. Quickly the Ghost of Sparta rushed towards the two as Vincent and Zack each took a defensive stance.

"Where'd the little one go?" Zack questioned and Vincent frowned before firing a lightning bolt at Kratos.

"Worry about that later, he's more of a threat right now." Vincent reminds and Zack nodded his head before lunging for Kratos. Swinging his weapon down at the man, Zack was surprised when Kratos flipped over him, grabbing him by the back of his suspenders. Rushing forward the man evaded shots from Vincent before grabbing him by his throat. Naruto then appeared before Kratos a distance away and then man twisted on his heel, throwing both towards the blond haired youth.

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto then quickly opened a Dark-Corridor to pull both warriors into its depths. Watching the corridor as it closed, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when neither reappeared. Above them, Zeus clinched his fists at his sides and narrowed his eyes before turning to Hades. "I thought you said your warriors would defeat them!?" Zeus demanded and Hades grunted before chuckling in his throat.

"**Worry not my brother, I have more warriors than those two to deal with Kratos and that Dark Key-Bearer…"** Hades reminds and Zeus narrows his eyes before leaning back in his seat.

"Good. If your so confident then you can be the final match up." Zeus responds and Hades snaps his head to his brother.

"**What?!"** Hades demands and Zeus smirks towards the God of the Underworld.

"You will face the final competitors in battle brother. Certainly you can deal with a few meager mortals." Zeus states and Hades clinches his fists, the flames beyond his helmet glowing fiercer than ever. Cooling off the god merely nods his head before thinking of which warriors to send out next…

Below, Kratos walks over to Naruto as they await the next match, the man frowning as he looks to the blond. "What did you do with them?" He finally questions and Naruto is silent for a few moments.

"I sent them back where they belong." The blond finally replies with a mysterious tone, a strangely pleased smile gracing his lips.

--

(??)

On another world, far away from Naruto and Kratos, Vincent slowly pushed himself to his feet. Looking around, the pale man found himself in the tower of a familiar castle. "This is…" He whispered before blinking as a gasp sounded behind him. Turning around, the red-cloaked saw a familiar face looking at him in shock.

The face belonged to a young girl with short black hair and chocolate brown eyes; she had a thin lithe build with fair skin. She wore a white and black headband around her forehead, a long fingerless black glove on her right hand with laces, a black wrist band on her opposite arm, a blue and black midriff bearing tank-top with two black straps over her right shoulder, a strap attached to a yellow strip of leather over her left arm, a pair of orange shorts, with a yellow and black belt around her waist with a pouch on her right hip, and a pair of long white socks with knee high black boots with yellow straps over the arch of each foot.

"Vincent?" She questioned while looking at the man in shock and Vincent looked at the girl for a moment before holstering Cerberus.

"Yuffie, looks you're finally growing up." Vincent noted and the girl blinked before grinning towards the man.

"Of course, can't stay a kid forever!" She stated and then blinked as Vincent walked passed her. "Hey! Wait up!" She called out following the man as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What's the hurry Vince? No one's seen you since the world fell into Darkness." Yuffie asks then reminds and Vincent frowns before closing his eyes.

"I was with someone, we should find him before he gets himselfa into trouble." The man replies simply and Yuffie huffed and watched the man walk away with a shake of her head.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." She mused before following after the man, hoping they'd run into Cid or even Tifa along the way…

Elsewhere, Zack laid on the ground before a cliff, arms spread out with one hand grasping the Buster-Sword. "This seems… familiar…" The man noted quietly as he opened his eyes and looked to the sky above. Slowly sitting up and looking around at the purple crystalline fissures around him, the man smirked slightly. "So, the kid sent us home." He mused before flipping onto his feet and then twirled the Buster-Sword in one hand before placing it onto his back.

Looking to the sky, a smile crossed over Zack's features before he cracked his neck and rushed off into his home world… He was back, he'd finally returned to Radiant Garden at long last…

--

TBC…

--

AN: Yuffie's outfit is the one from Dirge of Cerberus, seemed likely she'd start wearing that since it's been a year since the end of KH2 where she wore her Advent Children outfit. Also, for all who want to know, the reason for Zack having those white wings is due to the end of Crisis Core when Zack says "Those wings… I want them to." I kind of feel Zack deserves the wings after the hell he went threw, and I have to admit, thanks to Crisis Core, Zack is my favorite Final-Fantasy Character. Oh yeah, and I've decided on at least one other team up "Nightmare and Tira" from Soul-Calibur since they would work well together, or at least Tira would with Nightmare…


	14. SoulBlade

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 13**_: _**Soul-Blade**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Coliseum of the Gods…)

Naruto sighed as Kratos finished the last of their seemingly never-ending opponents. _'Why oh why did I agree to this madness?'_ The blond wondered to himself as Kratos gutted the last opponent and then took a step back. Looking to Kratos, Naruto saw the man cracks his neck before turning to glare at Zeus and groaned. _'Of course Kratos constantly antagonizing those god's hasn't made this any easier for us…'_ He noted while leaning Dark-Heart into his shoulder with a frown across his lips.

Above them Zeus was scowling deeper and deeper with each of Kratos and Naruto's victories. "Hades." The God grumbled out angrily, eyes glowing dangerously and his older brother looked to him. "Your next fighters had best be strong enough to deal with those two… I'm beginning to get loose my temper." Zeus stated darkly and Hades frowned before nodding his head and stood up. Vanishing and appearing in the arena of the coliseum, the god of the underworld looked at both Kratos and Naruto with a frown.

"**Truly impressive warriors, you've far exceeded my expectations of your skills… I believe you've both earned a real challenge."** The God commented and Naruto grunted while placing a hand against his head.

"Why do I have a really bad feeling about this…?" Naruto mumbled under his breath before Hades then slammed his fist into the ground, the earth beneath his feet cracking open as he suddenly vanished. However, as he did, a monstrous hand reached up out of the cracked earth and pulled its body free of heavy obsidian chains, a slender body following it. Above them, Zeus's eyes widened in shock before looking to Hades.

"Brother, are you MAD?! You're letting that monstrosity and its servant loose? It took our combined powers to seal it away in the depths of Tartarus the first time!" Zeus demanded then reminded angrily while a fearful Poseidon looked to his two brothers with no small amount of worry over his face… if that thing defeated Kratos… it'd be worse than having Kratos himself come after them.

"**Think of it this way Zeus, either way we win. In this fight I'm pitting one annoying thorn against another. Should Kratos win, that monstrosity will be done away with and weakened for his next matches, if not, we'll just drag it back into Tartarus where it belongs."** Hades assured while Zeus looked down with his teeth gritted while watching the beast glare towards Naruto and Kratos with burning red eyes.

The beast looked like it was made out of azure blue armor, the right shoulder affixed with twin glowing orange horns, one being higher than the other, over its left shoulder was an ancient pauldron, this one bearing three glowing orange spikes, a mouth was formed out of its chest complete with sharp teeth, it was left open with a glowing ball of energy centered in it, its tassets were long and shaped like three glowing orange spikes hanging from the side and back of either hip, its helmet covered its head entirely and was made of segmented plates, a massive glowing orange horn forming off the front while purple and black flames formed out of the back of the helmet.

Its left arm was completely made out of blue armor, white claws arching off the ends of its gauntlets fingers, but its right arm was a monstrous, disfigured claw, the oversized hand bearing three disfigured talons for digits, vines of flesh weaved in and out of the broken armor on its right arm to form the monstrous limb, three spiked plates of flesh forming along the back of its forearm with three glowing spikes aligned between the spikes on the plates beside them.

The feet of the beast were also made of armor, looking more like two toed talons than anything, with what appeared to be an upside down "Toe" curling towards its shins, the armor at its instep and heel formed into four pads at the bottom giving a more beastly appearance to the creature, while its greaves had gold almost cross like shapes on the front with spikes poking off of its calves and knees, its thighs covered by blue armor with a bright red ruby in the center lined with gold…

However in its monstrous right hand, held in a reverse grip was a positively massive weapon. The weapon was made of some form of flesh or muscle tissue and it was easily as big as the creature itself, with a duel edged blade with intricate patterns along it, the guard of the weapon appeared like two fins sticking out from the sides of a red eye centered in the weapon, its long fleshy handle ending with an almost arrow head shape that looked as sharp as the dangerously sharp edge of the blade…

Behind the monster was an odd girl, she looked oddly young with unnaturally pale skin with a lithe athletic frame, vibrant purple eyes with a beauty mark under her right eye and dark rings around her eyes, her brown locks were styled in the most disturbing way possible with a braid in the back, her bangs left to hang loose, a high pigtail on the left and a mid pigtail on the right with a gold band holding it out.

More disturbing than the girls hair was her odd attire, she wore a gold collar around her throat that hung off her back with numerous green feathers poking out of it, brown gloves with gold gauntlets over her hands, and tan boots with red flaps coming off the inside with a strap over the arch of her feet, her brown "bra" if it could even be called that seemed to only cover her left breast and was plainly visible while forming several straps in the back that buckled together, while a pair of brown panties was her only other underclothes, overtop this was a red suit that had two straps down her front to cover her breasts yet left her cleavage visible.

Their were also gold rings attaching the red cloth to a pair of leggings that left her crotch clearly visible, the straps being mirrored in the back of her costume only they were laced up at her shoulders while the red outfit also reached over her shoulders and biceps to her red sleeves that only covered up to her elbows with gold rings visible below her biceps, last she wore a heavy looking green belt with a gold buckle and a heart shaped gold plate at the left side of her ass.

Placed over the odd girl's slender shoulders was a large metal ring with a sharpened into an edge on the outside that flared out into three spikes three times around. _'Holy shit… that big one, his sword looks almost as big as Zabuza's and probably twice as sharp!'_ Naruto thought while looking at the azure beast as it escaped what he supposed had to be Hell itself. _'And the girl, she's got a ring type weapon, never seen one like that before. More disturbing however is her type of dress, showing as much skin and as many curves as possible to distract from what I can guess… either that or she's completely insane.'_ Naruto thought to himself while Kratos looked between the two and narrowed his eyes.

"Nightmare and Tira." He grunted out and got a look from Naruto. "Nightmare, the Azure Knight is from a world I've been too before, he's the projection of that evil sword he carries, Soul-Edge, Ares the God of War before me attempted to take the sword it wields as his own, instead his servant Astaroth betrayed him for it. Ever since then Nightmare has been hunted by the gods and was imprisoned in Tartarus once they found him. Tira is his servant, she's pledged herself to the sword, mind, body, and even her soul are all for it to do with as it pleases…" Kratos explained with a scowl and Naruto raised a brow at the part for the girl before frowning.

'_Correction, she's complete bat-shit crazy…'_ Naruto noted while looking at Tira and Nightmare as the Azure Knight started to move his limbs, a low baritone voice soon echoing from his helmet.

"_**At last! Freedom from that infernal abyss!"**_ Nightmare hissed out in its demonic voice and Naruto was shocked more by how much it sounded like Kyuubi did than anything else.

"Oh look Master, strong Souls!" Tira commented while pointing towards Naruto and Kratos, the former God of War quickly readying his weapons. Upon seeing them Nightmare narrowed its eyes while gazing at Naruto for a moment and then chuckled.

"_**Yes… They are…"**_ Nightmare rumbled before flipping his massive sword onto his hulking shoulders, Tira flipping her Ringblade around her slim body and into a stance.

"Time to play?" She questioned with a wide grin and Nightmares eyes started to glow a bright burning red.

"_**No, it's time to for them to offer their souls!"**_ Nightmare exclaimed before lunging forward, Kratos pushing Naruto back as he blocked the massive Soul-Edge with his two smaller weapons.

"Deal with the wench boy, this monster is mine!" Kratos growled out while shoving Nightmare back, the Azure knight chuckling darkly as the man crouched down into a low stance.

"_**Drown in the cesspool, of Darkness!"**_ The beast called out while clenching its left hand into a fist, lightning arching along its right arm and blade. Growling and lunging forward, Kratos jumped up, flipped his blades into a reverse grip and brought them down on the massive armored beast.

Meanwhile, Naruto held his two blades in hand while looking at the odd violet-eyed girl. Watching the girl closely, Naruto saw the oddest look on her face; arching a brow he wondered why she looked so… happy? Deciding that he'd rather not know he crouched into a stance and a grin spread over the girls face instantly. "Time to play!" She exclaimed before lunging forward. Ducking down with a laugh, the girl's entire body twirled with her ring like weapon aimed outwards. Cursing, Naruto rolled out of the way and turned as the girl came to a stop.

Grinning like a maniac, the girl then started to flip towards him with her weapon still in hand, surprising the blond greatly. "Shit, she may be crazy, but I gotta admit she's got some skills…" Naruto mumbled to himself before evading Tira and then lunged at her, swinging his twin weapons. Quickly landing in a sitting position Tira blocked his blades before knocking him back.

"Oh c'mon, you gotta do better than that!" Tira said with a wide grin and Naruto rolled his eyes while lunging at the girl once more. Lashing out with a kick the girl bent over backwards into a roll before coming up in a pose. Blinking the blond quickly shook his head and scowled towards the woman.

"Don't you take anything seriously?" He asked the girl and she grinned darkly, putting the blond on guard. Laughing the girl twisted on her heel and threw her massive ring like weapon at the blond while rushing forward behind it. "Oh shit!" Naruto called out while rolling out of the way, only for Tira to lunge at him and grab his neck with her ankles. Locking her legs in place the girl did a handstand before flinging the blond haired boy away with a giggle.

Skidding along the ground for a moment Naruto flipped onto his feet and dug his heels into the ground to come to a halt. Watching Tira as she cartwheeled over to her ring like weapon and kicked it up into her hands the blond mentally groaned. _'It's easy to describe this girl I see… Hot as Hell and Crazy as Shit…'_ The blond thought to himself while then crouching down and forming an ice spell in hand. Quickly throwing it at the girl, Naruto watched in shock as she dug her Ring-Blade into the ground and then flipped threw and over the weapon, the ice passing through the center of the weapon harmlessly as she landed in front of it with a smirk.

"Aw, your not even trying are you?" Tira taunted with a frown and Naruto gripped Dark-Heart's hilt tightly before lunging forward. Grinning widely, Tira swung her Ring-Blade from behind herself and then swung it at Naruto. The blond blocked with his Short-Sword before swinging Dark-Heart at the girl. Leaning back, Tira evaded the blade before kicking the blond in the stomach. Grunting and taking a step back, Naruto cursed and quickly blocked an overhead slash from the girl's weapon. Growling in his throat Naruto then pushed back and sent a roundhouse kick to Tira's gut, knocking her back onto her ass.

Growling, Tira flipped back to her feet and twirled passed another slash from Naruto. Grinning she then maneuvered her arms upwards, her Ring-Blade falling around her body where she used it like a hula-hoop and swung her hips to make it continuously swing around her body. Grunting as the weapon cleanly sliced through his cloak and some of his body Naruto rolled out of the way and looked to the wound. Grunting as it slowly sealed closed he was surprised when his Dark-Cloak did so as well. Looking back up at Tira as she came to a stop he saw the clearly confused look on her face as she saw he wasn't wounded.

Turning her blade around she checked and even saw his blood on it; this was all the distraction the blond needed as he lunged at Tira. Seeing the boy at the last second Tira ducked before he could take her head off while rolling into a flip. Landing in a low crouch she turned her head and twisted into a flip as Naruto stabbed his Short-Sword into the ground. In the air Tira then lashed out with a flying roundhouse kick to Naruto's head, knocking him back and away.

'_Dammit, this girl uses a weird style… the way she moves its such an odd ways it's hard to tell what she'll do next. Not only that but that damn weapon of hers is so versatile for a blade it's not even funny! Who the hell came up with this girl's fighting style anyways?!'_ Naruto thought as he glared at Tira angrily, eyes starting to tint yellow as a low growl started to sound from his throat. Crouching into a stance Naruto narrowed his eyes onto the girl before quickly lunging forward once more.

Meanwhile, Kratos blocked an over handed slash from Nightmare and then kicked the armored fiend in the chest. Grunting slightly as he was pushed back Nightmare grabbed Kratos' hand when the former God of War tried to punch him. _**"This is pathetic, where is the power you showed last time we faced one another… God of War?"**_ Nightmare demanded and Kratos eyes flashed in rage, roaring out the man slammed his fist into Nightmare's head.

Stumbling back from the strike, Nightmare soon regained his balance only for Kratos to quickly ram into him. Roaring out Kratos then stabbed one of his blades into Nightmare and stopped sending the blue armored fiend flying. Quickly gripping the chain of the blade embedded in the monster, Kratos then turned on one heel while heaving on the chain. Calling out as he was pulled from the ground, Nightmare grabbed the chain of the blade as he was spun around and around by Kratos. Fighting to hold his grip Nightmare eventually let go and was sent flying into a wall while Kratos called his blade back and then held both in his hands in a low crouch.

"There, is that the power you were looking for?" Kratos questioned coldly and Nightmare shoved a rock off his body while pulling himself up. Chuckling darkly the being held its mutant hand up, Soul-Edge gripped in its left hand.

"_**Yes! Show me your power!"**_ Nightmare called out before throwing the ball of flames in his hand at the former God of War. Growling in his throat, Kratos held his arms at his sides, a pair of wax feathered wings seemingly appearing from nowhere as he then flapped them, rising into the air above the fireball. Landing in a crouch, Kratos then rushed towards Nightmare, the demonic Hell-Knight laughing as he swung Soul-Edge from over his shoulder at the former God.

Jumping over the swing, Kratos then let go of his Chain-Blades, and then swung them by their chains chipping away at Nightmare's armor with each slash. Growling, Kratos then threw one of the blades into Nightmare's shoulder and pulled himself down towards it. He was met by Nightmare's mutant arm catching him by the head before slamming him into the ground harshly. The Azure-Knight then lifted his left foot up and stomped onto Kratos' midsection the Spartan Warriors eyes going wide as he did.

Chuckling darkly, Nightmare then lifted Kratos up and threw him away, forming another ball of fire in his hand as he did so. _**"I'll burn you alive!"**_ Nightmare called out as he threw the fireball towards Kratos. Grunting as he looked up, Kratos rolled out of the way of the fireball and sheathed his blades. Holding a hand to his side a bow appeared and he pulled on a bow of wind. Sneering, the former God of War then fired several bolts of what looked to be wind straight towards the monstrous Nightmare. Scoffing at the display, Nightmare swung Soul-Edge horizontally, a gale of wind ripping off of the Soul-Sword and stopping the arrows at the same time.

"_**Surely you can do better than that."**_ Nightmare taunted and Kratos muscles tensed as he put the bow away and then swung his arms, the Blade of Olympus appearing in his hands.

"I'll show you what I can do…" Kratos growled while lunging forward with the sword held in both hands towards his side. Chuckling, Nightmare lunged forward as well, both blades coming together with what sounded like a thunderclap. Stumbling back for a moment from the sheer amount of power unleashed, the two quickly swung their blades into one another's yet again. The power between the weapons sparked once more, lightning arching over both blades as Nightmare and Kratos matched one another in strength, holding each other back while glaring into one another's eyes.

"I'll send you back to Tartarus, vile beast!" Kratos declared and Nightmare narrowed its eyes on him dangerously.

"_**No! You will become a part of this Nightmare!"**_ Nightmare boasted menacingly and Kratos merely sneered into the armored beings face. Both growling darkly Nightmare and Kratos shoved one another back, sliding along the ground before coming to a halt. Cracking his neck, Kratos crouched into a stance; Nightmare merely took hold of Soul-Edge's hilt and glared at Kratos. All was silent between the two for a brief moment before they both lunged forward, Nightmare lashed out first, swinging Soul-Edge at the white skinned man.

Flipping over that, Kratos quickly brought The Blade of Olympus down on Nightmare. Catching the blade with his mutated arm and hissing as it cut into his flesh, Nightmare shoved Kratos back. Summoning all his power Nightmare then unleashed a "Soul-Wave" a wave of pure power ripping off his form and slamming into Kratos while sending him flying back. Grunting as he hit the ground Kratos growled furiously while flipping back to his feet and narrowed his eyes on Nightmare…

Back with Naruto, the blond and Tira were still locked in combat, Tira spinning her blade overhead several times causing the blond to continuously block. Grunting as the next slash slams into his weapons Naruto watches as she swings the bloody ring around her body and then brings it back down on him. Smirking despite himself, the blond knocks upwards when the weapon comes down. Seeing the girl go off balance, Naruto quickly lashed out with Dark-Heart, slamming into her side and sending her rolling to the side, however, oddly enough a dark aura started to surround her when he did…

'_This is either very good or incredibly bad…'_ Naruto thought to himself as Tira slowly pushed herself up, her arms hanging with her Ring-Blade hanging from her shoulder.

"Why are you even still alive?" The girl questioned angrily, tone dark and sinister, making Naruto mentally grimace. _'Oh great, don't tell me, she's got multiple personality's in that hot little body as well…'_ Naruto inwardly groaned out before crouching down, in response, Tira lunged forward before jumping into the air. Catching the ring-blade with her foot she then kicked the weapon down towards the young blond.

"Shit!" Naruto called out while ducking out of the way, Tira landing and flipping over to the weapon. Quickly grabbing it, Tira lunged at Naruto once more, swinging her Ring-Blade overhead and twirling it over her outstretched arm into the blond. Calling out in pain as the blade tore through his skin, Naruto kicked Tira back then saw several cuts on her own body.

'_The damn Psycho is doing damage to herself just by attacking me!'_ Naruto notes while his wounds and cloak slowly heal over and Tira gritted her teeth.

"I don't like this, no, no this isn't right!" She grumbled out before lunging forward once more, mentally grunting out Naruto blocked her Ring-Blade once more, only for Tira to jump into a double kick to his face. Backing up and watching as Tira rolled forward Naruto quickly got out of the way as she flipped through the weapon and twirled it towards him once more. Watching as the girl landed in a low crouch he actually shivered at the sight of the insidious glare on her face.

"No, no, no, this is all wrong!" She insisted and Naruto raised a brow while the girl glared at him furiously. "How can you even stand to exist?!" She demanded and Naruto had to raise a brow while flipping over the girl as she lunged at him once more. Landing behind her, Naruto then turned on his heel and through Dark-Heart towards her, the weapon slamming into her back and knocking her onto her face as the weapon then returned to his outstretched hand.

"Listen, I don't know what your talking about girl, but I'm very glad I exist." Naruto stated while Tira flipped over her Ring-Blade, standing with her back to him.

"All existence is a meaningless jumble of deceptions and stupidity, all things exist to die some day… so why shouldn't we speed up the process?" Tira retorted and Naruto shivered, wondering just who twisted the girls mind to this extent. Deciding that didn't matter, Naruto lunged at Tira, swinging Dark-Heart and hooking it into her Ring-Blade before lashing out with his Short-Sword. Growling in her throat, Tira evaded the sword and then twisted her nubile body, escaping the blond's hold.

Lunging back at the blond, Tira turned into a Jump and backwards kick, knocking the boy into the air. Quickly, Tira turned and kicked him towards the ground before taking hold of her Ring-Blade, her foot holding it out for her. Heading towards Naruto she saw the blond curse as he rolled out of the way, her Ring-Blade digging into the dirt. Looking back to the blond she saw his hood fall down and was mildly surprised by the blond hair, azure eyes, and tanned skin… _'Sort of like Siegfried only younger…'_ Her bubbly self noted in her head and Tira growled.

"No, too small, too scrawny, no visible scar on his eye, and not tough enough to be Siegfried." She insisted and Naruto wondered just who she was talking too… However, quickly shaking that off Naruto grimaced when he saw he could have just lost his head to the girl and glared towards her.

"Alright missy…" Naruto growled out and Tira turned to give him a flat look then raised a brow when she saw his eyes turn bright yellow. "No more games, I'm done playing with you!" Naruto growled out just as the shadows around the coliseum started to stretch out, soon wrapping around the blond haired youths legs and wrapping up around the rest of his body. Taking a cautious step back, Tira then watched as the shadows suddenly took form and then slithered away from the blond haired youth.

What was revealed to her was a suit of black and red armor that appeared to be made out of living muscle tissue, a silver and black helmet covering his head, a black and red half-skirt like object around his waist and hanging over his thighs, red almost muscle like boots with black souls and silver trim, three silver bangles over each arm, and a pair of silver heart shaped pouldrons over his shoulders, both his weapons clenched tightly in his hands…

Watching on as the blond boy looked at his body Tira saw him hold out a hand, shadows rising and rushing towards her in the shape of blades. Rolling out of the way, Tira looked up and saw the strange boy now over her before lashing out with his key-like weapon, slamming into her side and sending her skidding away. Flipping out of the skid, Tira landed in a crouch and saw the boy hold up a hand. A Ball of ice came from his hand, flying straight towards her, however she merely rolled under it. However she was shocked to find the blond waiting for her, his hand came faster than she could follow and clenched around her throat.

Grasping the youthful blond's wrist as he lifted her up, the girl tried to pry his hand from her throat. _[Now you face, The Seeker of Darkness…]_ Naruto said ominously before throwing Tira into the air and then threw Dark-Heart into her. Grunting as the blade slammed into her gut Tira fell back down and slammed into the ground with a grunt. Forming below her was a dark gate which Naruto shot out of and into Tira's back, making the brunette girl cry out in pain as she fell back to the ground, Naruto vanishing into another portal of Darkness. Evading the next few shots out of the ground Tira panted as Naruto then walked out of a Dark-Corridor and lunged forward, slamming his left fist into her gut and lifting her off the ground.

Grunting in pain Tira quickly lashed out with her Ring-Blade, only for the young Seeker to block it with his Short-Sword. _[Your weapon is useless…]_ Naruto uttered ominously and Tira growled while jumping into a double kick to his head and turned into a flip, landing on all fours away from the blond boy. Cracking his neck and then gazing towards Tira, Naruto chuckled as he sheathed his silver-short-sword, the weapon vanishing into his back as he did so.

Holding out his freed hand, Naruto caused the shadows around Tira to come alive, forming into a hand then wrapped around her form. _[Your skills won't do you much good now girl, give up and I won't have to kill you.]_ Naruto stated simply and Tira narrowed her eyes while struggling in the shadow hands grasp on her body.

"I already told you, death is inevitable, and failure is not an option, I'll make my master proud of me!" Tira stated and Naruto shook his head before tossing Tira to the side, the shadow hand vanishing as he glared towards her.

_[Then you leave me with no choice…]_ His voice echoed out ominously once more and Tira readied herself as he pulled his Short-sword from his back and held it in a reverse grip, Dark-Heart held normally in his right hand…

Meanwhile, Nightmare grunted while Kratos panted out, exhaustion slowly starting to set in on the man. The non-stop battle between the two seemed nigh endless, Soul-Edge's power was great, but The Blade of Olympus should have been greater. Kratos had to wonder if perhaps he just wasn't releasing the blades full strength, and if that was the case, how he was supposed to do so. Shaking his head and holding the Blade of Olympus, Kratos watched as Nightmare took hold of Soul-Edge once more.

"_**This battle has gone on long enough…"**_ Nightmare growled out and Kratos looked towards the Azure Knight with a thin frown across his features.

"Agreed." He stated and Nightmare crouched down, his eyes burning brilliantly from the depths of his helm.

"_**This is the End!"**_ Nightmare exclaimed while lunging forward Kratos roaring as he did so as well. Both their weapons came together in an explosion of power, Kratos and Nightmare both holding on as sparks danced from their blades. Narrowing their eyes on one another the two warriors backed off one another before slamming their blades into one another again. The ground around them shuddered as their blades came together, sparks dancing along their lengths while Kratos gritted his teeth.

"_**Give up, give in, and become a part of the Nightmare!"**_ Nnightmare urged while pushing into the blade as well and Kratos mentally scoffed before twisting his sword, knocking Soul-Edge from Nightmare's hands. Roaring out Kratos then slammed the Blade of Olympus into Nightmare and lifted him off the ground before slamming him down. Grunting out as he hit Nightmare glared up at Kratos only for the former God of War to lift him up once more and then slam him into the side of the Coliseum. Roaring out loudly Kratos then flung Nightmare into the air and quickly put away the Blade of Olympus. Pulling out his twin Chain-Blades instead he sent one straight for the Azure Knight and yanked him down into the ground.

Throwing the other blade at the mutant armor, Kratos took hold of both Chains while spinning on his heel and slamming the beast into a wall. Roaring out loudly, Kratos body was consumed by a fire red glow as he ripped his Chains back, pulling Nightmare towards him. Grabbing the beast by his twin Chain-Blades Kratos then lifted the blades up and through his armor, leaving two jagged gashes in the beast. Quickly grabbing the handles of his chain-blades, Kratos then repeatedly stabbed the torso of Nightmare, leaving dozens of gashes before twisting on his heel to knock Nightmare into a wall.

Not letting up, the former God of War quickly pulled his bow out once more and fired, the burst of wind slamming into Nightmare. Lunging forward Kratos feet glowed with fire as the Sandals of Hermes came to life, increasing his speed. Quickly pulling out Icarus' wings the Demi-God flapped them, the gale of wind created by them lifting Nightmare up into the air. Pulling a Purple spear from nothing Kratos fired a bolt of energy off, taking one of Nightmare's legs. Twisting his body around Kratos materialized a massive spiked hammer and slammed it into Nightmare, sending the armored fiend flying away as Souls from the hammer repeatedly slammed into his armored form.

Soon landing with a grunt, armor filled with gashes and cracks, Nightmare looked to his side and narrowed his eyes on his sword. Growling, Nightmare took hold of the hilt of Soul-Edge, instantly twisting vines and flesh started to grow from the stub of his left leg, a mutated limb near identical to his right arm appearing to replace the missing armor. Roaring out, Kratos ran towards Nightmare once more, in response, Nightmare quickly sent a flaming ball of hellfire towards the Ghost of Sparta. Gritting his teeth and coming to a stop, Kratos held his right arm up as the fire came towards him.

Crying out as it hit Kratos sent the flames back at Nightmare, sending the beast onto his back with a grunt. Lunging forward once more, Kratos swung one of his blades forward, tearing Nightmare's left arm off. Swinging his other arm he knocked Soul-Edge from the beasts hand once more and then called back both blades. Swinging both his blades around and overhead he slammed them both down into Nightmare's chest, cutting through it and slamming the blades against the hovering soul within it. Calling out as its soul was damaged, Nightmare took hold of the chain blades with his sole remaining hand.

However, Kratos yanked back on his weapons, pulling Nightmare with them and onto his stomach. Pulling his weapons from the beasts grasp and quickly sheathing them on his back, Kratos jumped onto Nightmare's back and placed a foot onto Nightmare's right arm to hold it down, wrapping his arms over the creature's head and pulling upwards. Grunting and growling, Nightmare struggled with Kratos strength as he threatened to rip his head from his torso. Growling low in his throat, Nightmare fought with the Ghost of Sparta with all his remaining strength, his eyes widening as he slowly started to lose the struggle.

"You were right about one thing Nightmare…" Kratos gritted out darkly while pulling on Nightmare's head, then ripped it off of his shoulders with a mighty heave. "THIS IS THE END!!!" Kratos exclaimed while holding Nightmare's head high above himself with panting breaths as the red aura around his form quickly abated. Throwing Nightmare's head to the side, Kratos then pulled the Blade of Olympus from nowhere and stabbed it down into Nightmare's still remaining soul…

The effect was instantaneous, the body and even the head seemed to give a shriek of pain and fury as black and purple flames slowly consumed them. Stepping off of the body with a scowl across his face, Kratos leaned The Blade of Olympus along his shoulders and walked towards Soul-Edge. All watched this in silence, even the gods too stunned for words as the Azure Knight burned away at long last, a feat not even the combined strength of the gods had been able to achieve, its evil put to rest by the former God of War… the Ghost of Sparta.

Looking to his side, Kratos saw Naruto throw Tira away, arching a brow once he saw that the blonds body was clad in an odd black and red, almost living armor of some kind. Tira on the other hand looked worse for ware, and he couldn't even imagine how she'd react to her master's demise. The girl was servile by nature; she knew no other life than serving a master, without the master she'd served so long, she'd be less than a husk. Grunting, Kratos ignored that and made his way over towards Soul-Edge before looking down on it with a scowl.

Above, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon watched on with more than a small amount of fear. All three wondered if Kratos would take up and tame Soul-Edge, its might and his own would be unfathomable… the Azure Knight would be little more than a gnat compared to such strength as to wield the Blade of Olympus and Soul-Edge together. Clenching his hands on his seat to prevent himself from shaking as Kratos looked down at Soul-Edge with a visible sneer.

'_**Take hold of me Kratos, and I will grant you the strength to defeat the gods… strength enough to destroy all of Olympus and even revive your family…'**_ The demonic voice of Soul-Edge rumbled in Kratos' mind, the Spartan merely narrowing his eyes on the blade.

"My own strength is more than enough to destroy the petty gods… and I know you cannot revive my family, so as I see it, I have no use for a soul stealing blade." Kratos stated while lifting The Blade of Olympus over his head and then brought it down on Soul-Edge's eye. Once he had, the evil blade was pierced, Kratos lifting it up into the air before twisting on his heel and slashing it with his Blade of Olympus, shattering the weapon into hundreds of pieces…

"No!" Tira shouted once Kratos had, Naruto crossing his arms and rolling his eyes as Kratos then cracked his neck.

_[Took you long enough.]_ Naruto grumbled and Kratos grunted while both looked down to a shocked Tira. _[I think you broke her…]_ Naruto commented and Kratos sneered down at the girl while walking towards Naruto.

"Go now girl, and you may live." Kratos ordered and Tira twitched, her teeth gritted in fury.

"Do you know what you've done?" She gritted out while turning her wide, psychotic violet eyes to glare at Kratos, fury clear in her tone. "I'll make you suffer for that!" She called out while twisting her body into a spin, and then threw her Ring-Blade at Kratos. Blocking the Ring-Blade with his two Chain-Blades, Kratos watched as Tira flipped towards him and jumped up, catching the weapon and coming down on him. Grunting, Kratos blocked her downwards attack and then shoved her back to the ground, seconds later, Naruto seemed to come out of the ground, kicking her into the air.

Ignoring the blond as he vanished back into the shadows, Kratos looked up and saw the enraged Tira twist in the air before throwing her Ring-Blade at him once more. Sidestepping the attack, Kratos watched as Naruto appeared in the air and flipped before landing an ax kick to the girl's shoulder, sending her flying into the ground. Falling Naruto went through another dark portal before appearing at Kratos side in a low crouch.

"So you do have some power…" Kratos mused while Naruto sheathed his short sword and grabbed something off of the Arena floor. Standing up, the blond then watched as Tira crawled out of the small crater she made upon hitting the ground, panting and bloody even as she continued glaring towards them.

_[What do you think we should do with the girl? She's dead set on killing you.]_ Naruto questioned then noted aloud and Kratos grunted while crossing his arms. Roaring out indignantly, Tira lunged at the two, Naruto tripping her and causing her to roll away.

"Determined but too blinded by rage to be a threat." Kratos noted with a frown while Tira grabbed her Ring-Blade, Naruto merely chuckling.

_[Then allow me to deal with her.]_ Naruto offered while walking towards Tira, Kratos shrugging as he watched on. Standing before the violet-eyed girl, Naruto looked to his left hand briefly before clenching down and turning back to Tira. _[Now then, witness the true power of Darkness!]_ Naruto stated while throwing his arm to the side a dark aura surrounding his clenched fist as he did so. From the Dark-Aura vines of living tissue started to form before wrapping around themselves and forming into a weapon…

The weapon was clearly demonic in origin, it appeared to be a Keyblade of some sort, the shaft was made of twining vines of living tissue that ended with three spiky segmented plates, the teeth of the Key was made of three glowing orange spikes like what had been on Nightmare's forearms, the opposite side of the blade being sharp like an actual sword, the guard was a small glowing red eye, two mandible like pincers formed on one side of the eye and curved down into the pommel of the weapon, a pair of small spikes poking off the opposite side, the handle was seemingly made of bone with the bone twisted into a spiral down into the ax shaped pommel of the weapon, the chain reaching off of the weapon made of black steel with what looked to be a Shard of Soul-Edge as the charm… (Soul-Blade…)

"M-master?" Tira questioned upon seeing the weapon, only for Naruto to stab Dark-Heart into the ground and then flip over it. Kicking Tira down into a Dark-Corridor that sealed shut once she was gone. Finished with Tira, Naruto sheathed both blades onto his back, and then looked at himself, as his armor wasn't receding into himself. Crossing his arms he turned to Kratos and saw the curious look on the Spartan man's face.

"You have a shard of Soul-Edge… what for?" The man questioned and Naruto shrugged his shoulders while standing next to his partner.

_[It called out to my darkness…]_ The blond offered vaguely while Kratos scoffed and then looked to the booth, which housed the very gods he wished to destroy.

Within the booth, Zeus didn't know whether to be relieved or frightened that Kratos had managed to shatter Soul-Edge. Sure the blade was still "alive" in a sense, but its powers would be greatly diminished until a weapon of its kind were reformed… though that Keyblade Soul-Edge may count it didn't seem to possess any sentience unlike the original Soul-Edge. However, now was neither the time nor the place for such thoughts, looking over to Hades the god crossed his arms with a thin frown.

"Well Hades, it seems as though two more of your warriors have failed. Rather than have all of our competitors die in vein, I say we have the final match next." Zeus stated and Hades looked to him the Kratos and Naruto and mentally grimaced. From the looks of it, Kratos was weakened greatly but then again that damn armor of Naruto's had just supercharged him, AND he'd collected what looked to be a fragment of Soul-Edge into a Keyblade replica of the soul-sword, and that could very easily lead to his defeat…

"Actually Zeus, I think I'd prefer to face them next." Poseidon commented with a smirk and Hades let out a breath of relief. He wasn't arrogant, he was painfully aware of the limits to his and the other gods Immortality and he'd rather not risk his skin against Kratos right now…

"Poseidon my brother, you don't have to do this for Hades, I'm sure he can deal with those two." Zeus tried to sway his older brother, though the god merely smirked while standing up and looking down at the two.

"No. Hades can arrange for the next tournaments competitors, IF I were to lose, which is highly unlikely given how weak those two look." Poseidon reminded and Zeus frowned before crossing his arms and nodded his head, Poseidon vanishing into a pool of water that appeared at his feet while Hades turned to the arena. _**'Better his skin than mine.'**_ Hades mused while wondering what he'd do with Poseidon once he had him in Tartarus…

'_**Lets see now, he did rape that Medusa girl when she was still human in one of Athena's shrines, then Athena cursed the poor girl into a monster… among other nasty habits, murders mortals on the seas for the fun of it, cheats on his faithful wife whenever he can, rapes anyone he finds attractive, that is if he has to, has absolutely no care for anyone but himself…'**_ Hades started to mentally list, his teeth gritting more and more in rage as he did so. Unlike the other gods, Hades was fair to all; he was the lord of the dead after all, so he judged a soul by how many rights and wrongs it had done in life. He didn't allow outside influences to sway his judgment, not even Zeus could. And thinking of all the wrongs Poseidon had committed in his life, Hades was certain not even Tartarus was foul enough for him…

--

(Twilight-Town…)

Axel, Larxene, and the old man had split up to search all of Twilight-Town. Axel was mentally frowning as he looked at the clock tower from his vision, arms crossed over his chest. Making his way towards it he vanished into a dark-corridor before appearing on top of the structure. Taking a seat in the same spot he'd been in the vision the formerly red haired Nobody looked down with a shake of his head. "Nothing… what was I expecting anyways." Axel muttered to himself before sighing and leaning his head back against the clock tower, his unusually long body easily allowing it.

Looking to the sky Axel then chuckled as the red sky and orange clouds reminded him of fire. "Yeah, but still no sign of my soul." He muttered before sitting up and then stood up completely while looking down on the world. As he did a black portal suddenly opened before him, making the Nobody take a step back before looking around. Slowly, Axel jumped into the portal and landed in a crouch, finding himself in what appeared to be a vast dark field.

"Welcome Axel." A dark voice commented and Axel turned and quickly formed his Chakrams at seeing a Heartless behind him.

Like most pure breeds this heartless had a hole in its chest in the shape of a heart, its skin was all black, its fingers ended in sharp talons, its feet were arched and curled like that of a Dark-Side, a pair of bat like wings stretched off of its shoulders and formed something of a cloak around its shoulders, two long tendrils reached off of the back of its head, its eyes were a glowing yellow color, its face held a "Pumpkin" like grin as a Dark-Ball had, and its physique appeared much more human than normal, like an Invisible did only less muscular and it looked to be structured to be teenaged at best. (Pure-Blood-Heartless: Dead-Cell…)

"Just who, or better yet what are you?" Axel questioned and the heartless walked forward and looked at him before tilting its head.

"Do you know why it was that the Heartless formed by Ansem or perhaps Xehanort to you was able to speak and think Axel?" The Heartless questioned instead and Axel slowly shook his head while the Heartless crossed its arms behind its back and tilted its head to one side. "Because he was like me, a Dead-Cell, someone powerful who gave his heart to Darkness willingly…" The Dead-Cell explained and Axel blinked while gazing at the creature as it then began to float over the ground.

"And I should care… why?" Axel questioned and the Heartless' grin seemed to widen to disturbing lengths.

"Because, if you want your soul, you'll need my help." The Dead-Cell replied curtly and then watched as Axel looked at him.

"Why should I trust a Heartless? Nobodies and your kind have never gotten along after all." Axel reminded and the Dead-Cell chuckled before holding out a hand, a ball of dark energy forming.

"Because, the Darkness is growing weaker and weaker, soon, Light will consume everything. And that would be very, very bad." The Dead-Cell stated simply before then rubbing its chin while Axel crossed his arms.

"And why is that?" Axel questioned and then watched as the ball of Darkness in the Dead-Cell's hand started to expand before showing what appeared to be a world. However, the world was formed entirely out of crystal, people, buildings, everything was consumed by never ending crystal…

"Because, if there's too much of it, the Light can be just as bad as the Darkness." The Dead-Cell responded before clenching its fist and Axel put his Chakrams away, mentally frowning at the thought of worlds turning into something like that…

"Then where is my soul?" Axel questioned and the Dead-Cell shook its head.

"First you help me, then I help you." The Dead-Cell responded and Axel gave it a look. "I cannot leave this place, I've been trapped here for such a long time… I need someone like you to pull me free. Someone who is neither light nor dark." The Dead-Cell responded and Axel looked at it warily for a moment before nodding his head. "Excellent, then take my hand and lead me back to the world of light…" The Heartless said while holding out one of its talon like hands to the Nobody. Taking its hand, Axel saw another portal open and quickly jumped through with the Dead-Cell, soon coming out back in Twilight-Town.

Looking to the Heartless, the Nobody watched as it spread its wings and stretched its arms out. The being then let out a sigh of content for a moment before turning back to Axel with a light chuckle. As it did, it snapped its fingers; an old brown cloak forming over its body with black X shaped straps over his chest and back, giving it the appearance of an elder in robes. "What about my soul?" Axel questioned while crossing his arms and the Heartless held out its hand, a sphere of pure glowing light appearing.

"I decided to hang onto this when it wondered into my realm, Souls are so rare to find in Darkness after all…" The Heartless said in a musing tone and Axel growled as he realized the being had been using him all along, it could have given him his soul at any time… "No need to growl, I'm a Heartless Axel, I have no reason to be charitable. But, since you've helped me, I will help you…" The Heartless reminded before slamming the Soul into Axel's chest, the Nobody backing up slowly while the Dead-Cell chuckled while walking backwards into a Dark-Corridor, vanishing without a trace soon after.

Falling to his knees, Axel shook all over; his Chakrams appeared, spinning around his body while on fire. Roaring out as he reach to take hold of them a blazing inferno rose up from around his body and into the sky above. Elsewhere in Twilight-Town, both Larxene and the old man saw the blaze and quickly made their way to the clock tower. As they reached the tower they looked up and saw the flames start to die down. As they did, Axel became revealed, the familiar red haired man panting as he opened his emerald green eyes and let out a chuckle.

Falling off of the clock tower the man smirked while landing on the ground, then reached up to brush some of his red locks from his face, the upside down tear marks below his eyes seemingly more vibrant than ever before. Stretching his arms out the man checked over his person, he was wearing a Dark-Cloak, only the sleeves were tight on his wrists, a pair of black leather gloves, black hakama-esque pants, and a pair of black boots with silver trim. "Oh yeah! I am back!" Axel exclaimed while throwing his Chakrams into the air then caught them at his sides with a wide grin.

"We're all happy for you, but we have other matters to attend, such as locating Larxene's soul…" The Old man reminded and Axel blinked before putting his Chakram away with a smirk.

"Yeah, alright." He offered and then smirked towards Larxene. "Looks like I'm first to get back to normal." He noted and Larxene growled towards him indignantly, the old man mentally groaning before opening another Dark-Corridor.

"Come, we'll look around Castle-Oblivion for her soul first. Then we'll spread out from there." The Old man stated and Axel nodded his head while Larxene crossed her arms and followed the two into the corridor… wondering why she even needed a soul or a heart in the first place… then looked down at her body and remembered why, she was very, very vane… and she really hated looking like she did.

--

TBC…

--

AN: all right, to everyone who's asked about a pairing I don't have an answer. Thus far, that's open for change. Thus far, Sora-Kairi, Cloud-Tifa, Zack-Aerith, and so on and so on are assured. Basically, any pairings that are from the worlds of the characters are assured, however, anyone without a pairing already, like Larxene, Tira, Alice, so on and so on, is up for debate. I don't know who will finally be paired with Naruto, but it probably won't be until at least after he meets Sora for the first time. Anyways, later!


	15. Lightning Breaker

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 14**_: _**Lightning Breaker**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Olympus Coliseum…)

A Gummi-Ship was landing on the world known to most simply as "Olympus Coliseum". "Wow, this place hasn't changed much." Sora noted while hopping out of the Gummi-Ship and Donald gave him a look.

"You mean besides being fixed right?" Donald questioned and Sora grinned nervously while wrapping his arms behind his head. Riku smirked as he and Kairi got out of the ship behind their brunette friend then followed him and King-Mickey's group towards the vast coliseum.

"Why haven't we been here before Sora?" Riku wondered suddenly and the brunette rolled his eyes.

"Because whenever someone, even Heartless, come here they usually have to fight in the tournaments held here." Sora replied and Riku raised a brow while following his friend passed the gates of the coliseum.

"How does that work?" Riku asked and Kairi nodded her head, Sora merely shrugging his shoulders before looking to King-Mickey.

"The god's of this world made the laws, their powerful enough to force anything to abide by those laws." Mickey explained with a simple shrug and Riku frowned for a moment while looking to the mouse.

"If they're so powerful then why don't they help stop the darkness?" Riku questioned and Mickey sighed for a moment.

"Their power is limited to there own world, they cannot influence the other worlds that lay out there." Mickey explained and Riku frowned, wondering why their powers were so great if limited…

"Weird, well at least we don't have to worry about this world getting too hectic. With Hade's gone things have probably been pretty quiet." Sora mused and then blinked when he saw a familiar red headed man talking to a tall thin woman. "Herc! Meg!" Sora called out while rushing over to the man, followed closely by Goofy and Donald, Mickey, Kairi, and Riku watching on while following at a sedate pace. Hearing the voices of his old friends, Hercules, the son of Zeus turned around and then grinned upon seeing the three.

"Sora, guy's, long time no see." Hercules says and then sees the three people following them and raises a brow. "And who are these three fellows?" He wondered and Sora grinned, rushing over to Riku and Kairi he pulled them over to Hercules and they gave the brunette a look.

"Herc, Meg, these are the friends I was looking for, Riku and Kairi." Sora introduced and both Hercules and Megara smiled seeing the brunette holding the red haired girls hand as he released Riku's wrist. "Riku, Kair, this is the greatest Hero of this world, Hercules." Sora introduced and Megara cleared her throat with a look, Sora grinning as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh yeah, and his wife Megara." He then said and both Herc and Meg held out a hand to the two teens.

"A pleasure. Any friend of Sora's is a friend of ours." Herc said while shaking Riku's hand, the silver haired boy nodding his head once.

"And you must be the girl he was always talking about. It's a pleasure to finally meet the famous Princess of Hearts Kairi." Meg mused and both Kairi and Sora blushed at her words while Goofy and Donald snickered.

"Hello again Hercules, I see you've grown." Mickey offered and Herc looked at the mouse before blinking in surprise.

"Mickey? Wow, over twelve years and yet you still look the same." Hercules said with no small amount of surprise and both Goofy and Donald put their arms over Mickey's shoulders with wide smiles.

"He's the king that we was looking fer!" Goofy proclaimed and Herc slowly nodded his head with a wry smile.

"Well if you'd only said you were looking for Mickey, I could've gotten my dad to help." Herc stated and both Goofy and Donald blinked while Mickey chuckled and Herc turned back to Sora and his two friends. "So Sora, you guys here for the next tournament? It's called the "Chaos Cup" it'll be our biggest tournament yet." Herc proclaimed and a wide grin split the brunette's face.

"Sounds great Herc, I'll be sure to be there." Sora said while giving the man a thumb up and Herc nodded his head.

"Good. I'll be watching for you then. But until then, I kind of need some help fixing up the arena, care to help?" Hercules questioned and Sora took a thoughtful expression before looking over to King-Mickey.

"Aw, why not, even heroes need a break every now and then." Mickey mused aloud and Hercules rolled his eyes.

"Just don't let Phil hear you say that. I'm sure he has a rule against it somewhere in that long list he's got." Herc pleaded and Mickey nodded his head as the group headed into the coliseum…

--

(Coliseum of the Gods…)

Naruto stands with Kratos, his arms crossed with both of his Keyblades in hand. Watching intently he frowns when water starts to rise up from the coliseum floor, storm clouds gather above them and in a flash of lightning, Poseidon himself appears in the center of the arena. The man was a well built man of a similar, if somewhat weaker, build to Kratos, his tanned skin was covered by glowing blue shapes that curled like waves, his face was covered by a short brown beard and long brown hair fell down his back, he wore a silver circlet, silver armor down his back that curved over his shoulders, a pair of silver bracers over his forearms, silver greaves over his legs with no sandals, and a white cloth falling from around his waist with a silver belt under it.

_[This is supposed to be a God? Looks more like a normal man to me…]_ Naruto noted, clearly not impressed by the sound of his voice and Kratos frowned.

"Regardless of how he looks, do not underestimate him." Kratos ordered and Naruto slowly nodded his head to the man while getting a stance, his arms spread with his twin Keyblades in hand with one in a reverse grip, Kratos crouching down with both his own blades held in his hands.

"I've been waiting for this moment for some time now, Kratos!" Poseidon suddenly exclaimed while holding his arms to the sides then hurled blasts of lightning towards him. Cursing Kratos raised his right arm to block with the Golden Fleece and then threw the attack back at Poseidon. Smirking the man collected the two blasts into his hands and rolled them around the sparking lightning. "Your weak Kratos, even you cannot be tired after so many battles!" Poseidon boosted before then throwing a much larger blast of lightning at Kratos catching him in the stomach and sending him flying back into the arena walls.

Grinning Poseidon was almost beheaded as Naruto came at him swinging Soul-Blade. Twisting on his heel the young blond then kicked the God of the Seas in the midriff, knocking him back. Growling Poseidon stopped himself and started to float in the air before roaring out as lightning rained down from the heavens and flowed into him, then started to strike around him, catching Naruto by surprise as he was hit by lightning and then sent flying back by a quick burst of power. Landing on his feet with a smirk as the blond haired boy started to twitch and spasm on the ground, his body visibly sizzling, Poseidon turned back towards Kratos as the warrior got back to his feet.

Looking to the water he'd brought into the arena, Poseidon formed a ball of lightning into his hands and grinned darkly. Slamming the lightning into the water he watched it arch forward before slamming into Kratos and forcing him into the wall once more. Grunting the Spartan pushed himself onto his feet, and then glared up at Poseidon furiously. The God merely scoffed before holding his hand to the side and produced a golden Lance seemingly from nothing.

"Since you've made off with my trident, I suppose my son Triton's Lance will be adequate in finally killing you Kratos." The God mused aloud before lunging forward, seeming to skate along the water before slamming his knee into Kratos gut and then slammed a fist into his chin, knocking his head back before Poseidon then kicked him, sending him skidding to the side. Grunting in pain, Naruto slowly pushed himself up to his feet in time to see this and slammed a fist into the ground, an arc of Darkness moving towards Poseidon before slamming him into the wall he'd been standing in front of.

Growling angrily Poseidon righted himself and looked to Naruto hatefully. "You'll pay for your insolence mortal!" The man exclaimed before throwing the Lance at the blond. Thinking quickly, Naruto ducked into a Dark-Corridor to avoid then came up from under Poseidon, slamming Dark-Heart into his chest and knocking him back into the wall before then quickly hurling a ball of ice into Poseidon's chest, sending him flying through the wall as Naruto landed on the ground.

Grunting, Kratos pushed himself back to his feet and then watched as Naruto stumbled away from where he'd pushed Poseidon through the wall, visibly scorched from the lightning attack. Frowning Kratos awaited Poseidon's return then saw the furious God of the Seas rise up out of the water before Naruto and grab him by his throat. "You… filthy mortal!" Poseidon said through gritted teeth while pushing lightning from his arms into a now screaming Naruto.

Growling in his throat, Kratos quickly pulled out his bow and fired several bursts of wind into Poseidon, slamming him into the arena walls. Rushing to Naruto he checked and was surprised to find the boy was still alive, albeit now he was smoking and his dark armor was visibly charred. "Rest yourself, I'll finish this." Kratos commanded while standing up and then pulled the Blade of Olympus free. "Is this how you fight Poseidon? By attacking a mere child rather than a true warrior? Well, is it Coward?" Kratos demanded and Poseidon grit his teeth in pure rage before sliding forward, slamming a fist into Kratos' face and sending him skidding back once more.

"I'll show you Ghost of Sparta! I'll prove that I'm no coward when I rip your heart out!" Poseidon roared out as he slammed a fist into the water below him, sending a burst of lightning straight for Kratos. Narrowing his eyes, Kratos merely used the Golden Fleece to knock the burst of lightning back and into Poseidon catching him off guard. Growling Poseidon narrowed his eyes on Kratos and thus raised his arms, the water level in the arena rising as he did so.

"What treachery is this?" Kratos wondered aloud while Naruto's prone form began to float atop the water. Opening his eyes, the blond looked around through the black glass of his helmet and stopped when he saw another of the jewels on his right hands Spellbinder rings on his fingers, the middle one this time, and it was now glowing blue and black… _**"You have awakened the Power of Anti-Lightning…"**_ The voice of his Spellbinders echoed and Naruto held his hand up, then concentrated and watched as sparks of black and blue lightning stretched over his hand.

_[Heh… ha ha ha ha… now we're talking…]_ He whispered before closing his hand over Dark-Hearts hilt, lightning spreading to cover his Dark-Heart Keyblade. Meanwhile, Poseidon ducked under the water, and then started to swim around the arena, soon the God of the Seas had started a whirlpool, thus pulled Kratos towards him as he floated into the air and allowed Lightning to spread from him outwards, ever closer to Kratos.

"NOW WE END THIS, GHOST OF SPARTA!!" Poseidon's voice boomed while Kratos was forced to dig the Blade of Olympus into the ground to keep from being hit by the lightning. As he did, Naruto ran passed him and towards Poseidon, Dark Lightning now completely covering his body as he jumped towards Poseidon, the lightning not even affecting him as he slammed a fist into the God's face, knocking him down and ending the lightning attack. Seeing his Chance, Kratos pulled the Blade of Olympus free of the ground and was pulled closer to a disorientated Poseidon.

Getting closer to the god, Kratos drove the Blade of Olympus through his gut and lifted him, up into the air. Roaring out in fury, the former God of War then twisted on his heel and sent Poseidon flying into a wall. Grunting and coughing up blood, Poseidon tried to push himself to his feet, only for black and blue bolts of lightning to hit him. Blinking at this, Kratos turned and saw Naruto, his Keyblades on his back and hands outstretched, the dark "Anti-Lightning" burning and searing the god's flesh as he continued to scream and writhe in pain.

Seeing this happening to his older Brother, Zeus stood and looked on with pure shock as some twisted form of lightning he'd never seen or heard of before was actually harming the God of the Seas himself. As Zeus watched on with no small amount of shock and surprise, Hades was trying desperately not to laugh maniacally. After so many years of tormenting sailors with storms, Poseidon was FINALLY getting his just and rightful punishment as far as the God of the Underworld was concerned.

'_**Ha ha ha ha… and if he thinks this is bad, wait till I get my hands on him, I believe Medusa would LOVE to get back at him for raping her when she was still human… not to mention a few hundred other poor souls he's tormented over the centuries.'**_ Hades thought to himself, the maniacal laughter threatening to break through his normally calm collected exterior. Though, given how much he hated his brother for the things he'd done, that really couldn't be called his fault…

Poseidon himself was screaming in pain as the Anti-Lightning forced its way through his body. The smell of burning flesh was clear and making him grit his teeth before crying out in pain as Kratos threw his twin Chain Blades into Poseidon's back and pulled him away from the Anti-Lightning. Lifting him into the air, Kratos then slammed his uncle into the ground before twisting on his heel to slam him into the arena wall and then back into the ground. Poseidon gargled up blood as he tried to pull himself away from Kratos; he needed a moment to heal if he was going to attack the "Fallen Mortal".

Kratos gave him no such repose; instead, the former God of War raised his arms and slammed them into the ground. The miniature tremor slamming into Poseidon and sending him flying while flying rocks crashed into the god's body. Nearby Naruto held his hands apart and formed a ball of Anti-Lightning into his hands before holding them towards Poseidon, the lightning arched and burned the former god once more as he began to scream out in pain. Scoffing at the weakness of the so-called god, Kratos then kicked up Triton's Lance and gripped the familiar weapon in his hand.

Having once wielded the Lance himself, Kratos prepared to throw it only to be knocked back with Naruto as Poseidon forced the waters to form a massive wave that threw them both to the side. "No…" The god whispered before panting heavily as he concentrated and began to grow, soon the god was large enough to reach down and grab both Kratos and Naruto in one hand. "YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!" He roared out furiously while looking to the two held in his hands. Applying pressure the furious God of the Seas tried to crush both warriors, only to cry out as Naruto took a play from his own attacks and forces Anti-Lightning out of his body in waves, the lightning burning the God's hand and forcing him to release Naruto.

As he fell, the blond thought quickly and thus threw Soul-Blade towards the ground. Praying this still worked he placed his feet on it and was thoroughly, yet also happily, surprised when it floated and allowed him to fly. Meanwhile, Kratos grunted as he pushed on Poseidon's hand, then kicked himself free of the God before forming a pair of waxwings and gliding safely towards the ground. Landing in a crouch, Kratos quickly put his arms up to catch one of Poseidon's feet as he tried to step on the man. Gritting his teeth and summoning all of his strength, Kratos roared out while pushing up on the foot and knocking Poseidon off balance.

Meanwhile, the flying Naruto formed another ball of lightning between his hands before blasting Poseidon from the air. Crying out in pain Poseidon tried to grab the blond only for him to evade him, keeping the Anti-Lightning pumping into the god. Seeing his moment, Kratos formed a familiar bow and then began to fire bolts of wind into the god's head, causing him to cry out as he covered his head. Holding up his hands, Naruto then threw them towards Poseidon, hitting him with Anti-Lightning once more as he cried out in pain, slowly shrinking back to a mere mans size, bolts of wind actually cutting into his body as he then fell to his knees, bloodied, burned, bruised, and beaten.

Landing next to Kratos both Naruto and the Spartan look to one another for only a moment before lunging forward. Kratos was the first to move, forming a familiar Lance in his hands before throwing it into Poseidon, forcing him to lean back from his kneeling position. Quickly forming the Blade of Olympus as well, Kratos stabbed it through Poseidon, lifting him up and throwing him into the air. Kratos then met Naruto who jumped onto Kratos' Shoulders, then the air as he pulled both his Keyblades free and began to slam them into the god repeatedly before spinning in the air and knocking Poseidon down towards the ground.

Forming the Barbarians Hammer in his hands Kratos slammed the weapon into Poseidon before then forming the Lance of Destiny and swung the weapon upwards, the tip of the Lance extending until it slammed into Poseidon's back. Concentrating, Kratos formed the Wax Wings once more before kicking off the ground as his golden greaves burned with power. Flying into the air, Kratos dispelled both and lashed out with his twin chain blades, slamming them into the god and sending him straight into the ground below where he gurgled and slowly held a hand towards Kratos.

Pushing a burst of Lightning from his hands towards the man, Poseidon watched on helplessly as he blocked then returned it to him with the Golden Fleece. Grunting the man was pushed back by the attack while Naruto threw a ball of Ice into Poseidon, partly freezing the man as he lay on the ground. Scoffing, Kratos started to slam his hands into the ground, a tremor rushing towards Poseidon before it slammed him into the wall. Reaching out, Naruto commanded the shadows to grab hold of Poseidon; a sinister black claw thus rose out of the ground to grasp the man.

Smirking, Naruto brought one hand down, the black claw doing the same as it slammed the god into the ground where Kratos fired a bolt of wind from his bow into him, sending him flying back into a wall where his sons Lance was embedded and held him hanging to the wall, blood flowing down his body. Grinning sinisterly, Naruto held a hand out as Anti-Lightning formed over it then threw the hand towards Poseidon and watched as the man screamed out in pain as the lightning continued to burn his flesh. Ceasing his action as Kratos made his way towards the god, he watched the Ghost of Sparta pull the Lance from Poseidon's chest, forcing him to fall to the ground.

Looking up through bloodied eyes and burnt lids; Poseidon saw a look of disgust over Kratos face. "Pathetic." Kratos stated before forming the Blade of Olympus and grasping it in both hands. "Now you face your end!" The man exclaimed before then stabbing the sword through Poseidon's back and through his chest. Twisting the sword as Poseidon coughed up blood Kratos reached down towards him with narrowed eyes. "Now, you will return my power!" Kratos stated ominously while concentrating, pulling a strange blue energy out of the clearly dieing god.

Once he was finished, Kratos began to breathe heavily before floating into the air; arms outstretched as lightning flew into his body and then burned whatever remained of Poseidon, leaving only his charred and steaming armor behind… Suddenly the blood of the fallen god began to travel along Kratos body before sinking into the twin chain blades he carried, the blades seeming to glow brightly as it did. Green and Blue spheres of energy then flowed into Kratos, fully restoring the warrior to full power and health. Yet to Zeus and Hades something else was far more distressing the Ghost of Sparta had reclaimed the magic of Poseidon's Fury!

Naruto whistled a bit clearly impressed with that little demonstration of strength, power, and raw skill. Looking to Kratos as he came over to him, he watched the man turn and glare up at Zeus and Hades. Zeus growled at this, clenching his fists tight enough to draw blood while Hades looked into his hand. Chuckling darkly as he chose one of the darkest pits of Tartarus for his brother's dark soul. Looking to where Zeus was glaring at the blond and Kratos, Hades shook his head slowly.

"**They've won brother, give them their prize."** Hades reminded then stated and Zeus grit his teeth before taking a breath and breathing out, calming himself and schooling his features. Looking around as all was silent, mortals staring in shock to where the god of the seas had been vanquished, Zeus mentally promised to make Kratos and the boy that had aided him suffer.

"Good people, it would seem that we have our first two champions!" Zeus called out with his arms outstretched while the crowd slowly clapped and applauded for the two warriors. Holding a hand to his side, Zeus called Athena's "Aegis" to his hand before making a wind that carried it down to Kratos. "Here, Ghost of Sparta, take your prize." Zeus gritted out as the gold chest plate stopped before the Spartan and Naruto took a moment to look it over.

The chest plate was completely made of gold like the Golden Fleece, only looked like it was made of a snakes skin, and only covered the left side of the chest with an odd face present there that had long snakes coming off of it like hair, it had a plate over the left shoulder like Kratos already had from the Golden Fleece, gold tassles falling down over where left shoulder would be, with brown leather straps present fasten it under his arms and half of a gorget for the left side of his neck. Reaching out and touching the Aegis, Kratos felt the armor appear over his torso before crossing his arms over it.

"**We can't forget the little one Zeus, the mortals would not take kindly to that and you know it. And they are the only allies we have in this war."** Hades then stated before reminding his brother at a fierce glare from Zeus. Gritting his teeth Zeus glared at Hades before stroking his beard and controlling his breathing for a moment.

"Very well Hades, if you truly think its necessary, then you may be the one to present him with this gift." Zeus ordered and Hades grunted before vanishing and reappearing before Naruto and Kratos. Turning to the god, Kratos pulled his Blades free and crouched into a stance, but Hades merely held a hand up.

"**Be still Kratos, your not the only one who deserves a prize for your skills today."** Hades intones simply before walking over to Naruto and looking down at the Red-Seeker. **"You are not of this world boy, or I would give you a powerful artifact like Kratos has earned. Sadly, any artifact we could give you wouldn't work for someone like you…"** Hades rumbled before holding out a hand and then motioning with his fingers, the familiar charm Naruto had gained from Xion's Absent Silhouette floating into his outstretched hand.

_[Then what will you give me?]_ Naruto questioned warily and Hades looked at the Charm for a moment, then chuckled when he felt a living presence was part of it.

"**A mind that has no heart, body, or soul is nothing… find it a body and soul and the heart shall come in time. So I will give you a Soul for winning today."** Hades rumbled while blue energy coursed into the charm, thus causing it to start to glow brightly when he gave it back to Naruto. **"Find a body and the mind and soul will combine with it, allowing this person to live a true life all her own…"** Hades uttered before looking to Zeus, Kratos and Naruto turning to the King of the Gods as well as the bearded man held his arms up.

"The first part of the tournament is now complete!" Zeus suddenly exclaimed and Kratos narrowed his eyes on the god. "You two champions are requested to return and participate in the next Tournament… Hades." Zeus stated and then commanded while turning to his dark brother. The God of the Underworld nodded his head before turning back to Naruto and Kratos, and then held out his hands.

"**Take these, they will call you back when the time is right."** Hades stated while handing a gold emblem to Naruto and Kratos that resembled an Omega symbol with two swords crossed behind it. Placing the emblems away, the two looked up to see Zeus frown down at them for a moment before vanishing in a flash of light. Turning to see his brother was gone, Hades leaned towards Naruto, and the fires of his helmet growing darker the longer the blond looked into them.

"**Take this advice child, do not rely too heavily on the Darkness within your heart or that blade… or you'll lose yourself to its depths."** Hades uttered ominously before backing away from the two and crossing his arms, vanishing in a pillar of flames soon after. Looking around the two then watched as spectators and patrons began leaving the Coliseum. Turning to Kratos, he saw him nod before they both walked out the Coliseum door and down a familiar corridor. Making their way out of the Coliseum, Naruto watched as a field of energy covered the doorway before turning back to Kratos.

"So no one may enter and attempt to steal anything." The man explained and Naruto slowly nodded his head as Kratos soon came to a halt. "Boy." Kratos uttered and Naruto turned to see him, Kratos then crossed his arms as he looked to Naruto with a thin frown across his face. "Next time, I hope you have improved enough to fight by me as an equal…" Kratos states simply and Naruto scoffs while looking at the man, a Dark-Corridor opening up behind him.

_[Me? Who was the one getting his ass kicked by Poseidon?]_ Naruto retorted and Kratos' frown deepened for a moment before scoffing.

"It matters not, just be back here on time or I will hunt you down myself." Kratos grumbled as he made his way out of the Coliseum and into the world beyond, Naruto shaking his head as he left.

_[That guy… tch, at least he's reliable.]_ Naruto mused before turning and walking into the Dark-Corridor and was whisked off to his next adventure…

--

(World That Never Was…)

Axel walked the familiar halls of Organization XIII's castle with his arms crossed behind his neck. "Talk about boring, there's nothing even here." Axel noted while absently cleaning out one of his ears with a thin frown. "Aw, why can't Larxene do this on her own? And for that matter, who put that old guy in charge in the first place?" Axel wondered aloud before remembering he'd promised to help the said old man help some kid he was training. Sighing the red haired man looked around before walking off, soon turning into his room.

Looking around he stopped when he saw an ice-cream stick on the windowsill in the room. Raising a brow he picked it up, the word "Winner" was printed on it with a small crown… "Why is this… so familiar?" Axel wondered to himself as he looked at the stick and then held it in the air as he leaned back on his old bed. Looking at the stick Axel felt his mind drift for a moment before sitting up as memories once forgotten suddenly returned…

"Xion." He whispered before shaking his head and looked at the stick once more. "How did I forget her? When I was around her… I felt like I had a heart… just like when I was with Roxas." Axel realized before looking back to the stick for a moment and then placed it into his cloak. "Then I guess I'll just have to find her too." Axel mused while standing up, then turned to his window and looked to the world outside. Shaking his head, Axel made his way out of the room, a frown across his features as he made a promise, a promise to himself, to find his lost friend…

Elsewhere in the castle, the old man walks with Larxene down the many corridors of the Castle. "Why'd you let Axel go off on his own and insist that you come with me?" Larxene questioned of the man and he smirked slightly while the wondered down the man halls of the giant castle.

"Axel has regained full control of his powers, in your current state you wouldn't be strong enough to fight many of the Nobodies in this place. Nor will they obey the two of you since the Organization has fallen." The old man explained and Larxene huffed while crossing her arms over her chest.

"Whatever, I still say I can take care of…" Larxene started to say only for the old man to blur into motion, instantly destroying multiple Sorcerer Nobodies while she looked at the old man in shock. Dissipating his keyblade the old man chuckled as he turned towards the female Nobody.

"What was that you were saying?" He questioned before turning and making his way down the hall, Larxene growling before spotting the door to her room. Looking around she then walked into the non-descript white room and looked around. Sighing when she couldn't find anything that looked like a soul, she sat on her bed and started to think, wondering where it'd go? Frowning was impossible in this form so she tried to think of another place it could be, only one idea popping into mind.

"No, why would it be there?" She wondered to herself before frowning, it would make some amount of sense. It was also the only place that she could think to look at this point. Breathing out a sigh, Larxene got up and stretched her limbs before making her way out of the room and bumped into Axel. "Watch where you're going." She told the male Nobody and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever… say, do you remember a girl with black hair in the organization?" Axel said then asked the female Nobody and she looked at him with her head slightly tilted to one side.

"No… I was the only female member of the Organization." Larxene stated and Axel frowned slightly, arms crossed as he walked away from Larxene with his eyes closed. "Hey, what was that all about?!" Larxene demanded while chasing after the red head as he searched for the old man.

Elsewhere in the castle a pair of pitch black eyes watch what is happening within the castle, via a swirling sphere of dark energies that hovers off of the ground, narrowing on the two reborn Nobodies in particular. "I should be rid of those two now." She mused only to stop as a dark presence appeared behind her, a black and silver Keyblade leveled at her throat a second later.

"I wouldn't do anything foolish if I were you…" The voice of the old man commented calmly and the woman turned pale green features towards the figure and widened her eyes slightly, recognizing the figure.

"So your alive after all." She mused and the man nodded his head only once before pulling his keyblade from her throat.

"And I see you have not changed your ways since we last met, Maleficent." He commented flatly and Maleficent frowned towards the old man, not willing to turn her back to this kind of opponent…

"What do you want Old Man?" She mocked and the said old man dissipated his own weapon before folding his arms behind his back.

"I want for nothing, but I have a mission that I must complete." The old man started while absently drumming his fingers in the air as he raised his right hand.

"The same mission as before I assume? Repair the broken balance between light and darkness?" Maleficent guessed and the old man was still and silent as she made her way to one of the only remaining thrones in the castle and sat down.

"Unfortunately, no. Balancing the worlds is impossible now. Too many of the Dark-Worlds and Princesses of the Shadowed Hearts have been returned to Kingdom Hearts. There is no hope to return the balance with the worlds like they are… I have another plan in mind, and if it is to succeed I will need information." The old man explained cryptically and then stated, Maleficent frowning towards him for a moment before lacing her fingers together.

"Please, have a seat… if all you need is a little information then I should at least be courteous to an old ally." Maleficent offered while motioning to a nearby throne and the old man shook his head while staring at her intently.

"I have no time to waste here Maleficent, if you know the location of the female nobodies soul, that is all that I need." The old man intoned darkly and the woman frowned for a moment before placing her staff in her lap and crossing her arms.

"Unfortunately for you, I have no idea where her soul is…" Maleficent replied and the old man reached up to cup his chin before turning away from her. "Oh, and do be careful out there. I've been feeling a great Darkness growing stronger and stronger as of late." Maleficent stated with a smug smirk, only for it to be wiped away when the old man suddenly started to laugh. Soon calming himself down, the old man turned his head towards the woman as she looked at him warily. She knew this man; it was best to be wary around him no matter how strong you were…

"Is that so? Good, then everything is going perfectly." The old man mused aloud before making his way out of the room to go find Larxene and Axel. They still had many other world to search if they wanted to find Larxene's soul any time soon…

--

(??)

A familiar girl with violet eyes and brown hair slowly opened her eyes before grunting in pain. Rolling onto her back she reached out both arms, one of her hands finding her ring blade and grasping it. Stretching out her limbs for a few moments she then pushed herself up to her feet. Looking around, the brown haired girl scratched her scalp, wondering just where in hell she was. "well well well… what do we have here?" A strange man in a long red cloak with a Cheshire cat grin and orange glasses wondered aloud, his pointed canines visibly poking out.

Tilting her head, Tira stared at the odd man for a moment before grinning widely and twisting into a spin, bringing her Ringblade down on the man. However, the man merely raised one hand and caught the blade as if it was nothing. Leaning forward he looked at the girl, then brought up one hand to pull his glasses down, a pair of crimson red eyes gazing into the bright violet eyes of Tira. Pushing back on the weapon, the man pushed Tira off balance, causing her to fall flat on her ass as she blinked up at him.

"So, your nothing but a servant of evil…" The man mused while crossing his arms and looking down at her with a contemplative expression… Soon however an insane Cheshire cat smile spread across his lips, Tira blinked and grinned widely, already loving that expression. "Say, would you like to help me kill a few things? At least until you find a new master." The red-coated man offered and Tira blinked then thought back to what happened before grinning widely.

"I'll help, but I already HAVE a master." The girl stated simply, remembering a warrior in black and red living armor wielding some new version of Soul-Edge and another weapon like Cervantes…

--

TBC…

--

AN: I've decided to skip a bunch of Dark-Worlds, mostly so I can accommodate everyone with a Naruto meets Sora chapter sometime in the future. While it'll still be a ways away, it'll probably be after he's visited either JTHM or Hellsing's world, however I've decided to forgo Tomb-Raider and Prince of Persia, Tomb-Raider for lack of an idea, and Prince of Persia because I've only played Sands of Time and I've gotten stuck at one point in the game…

Also, I finally thought of a true Other for King-Mickey, Sonic The Hedgehog. The one I'll be using is the one from the old SatAM Cartoon; I watched it when I was younger so I know the story behind it. A reason for this is that Sonic in that cartoon is a Rebel apposing the rule of Robotnik, more or less the opposite of a King. He's also short tempered, rarely thinks ahead of what he can see, he's arrogant to an extent, VERY Vane, and is rarely serious about anything if he doesn't have to be. Apposed to this is King Mickey a calm, wise, Humble, Noble, and virtuous King who takes things very seriously when the time calls for it. Also, both are mascots, Micky to Disney, Sonic to Sega, both are animals of a kind, both are also rodents to an extent, or at least called rodents, and both have a connection to royalty since Sonic's Uncle is "Sir" Charles "Chuck" Hedgehog, thus a Knight, and his father was also a Knight in SatAM from what I can tell.

Also, the world of SatAM was by far a Darker world compared to any of the other Sonic worlds, featuring a tyrannical and truly evil Dr. Robotnik who'd actually taken control of the entire planet, Roboticized its populace into mechanical slaves, and basically won the war save for the small forces of the Freedom Fighters apposing him. Well, that's the idea I've got anyways, so tell me what you think. Ciao!


	16. Hellsing

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 15**_: _**Hellsing**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(??)

On a world much different than many others, the familiar group led by the old man journey deeper and deeper into the basements of Castle-Oblivion. Larxene at the front with her arms crossed and a mental scowl, walking behind her with his arms crossed behind his head and looking very bored is Axel, who then yawns into one hand and closes an eye as he follows the female nobody, last but not least is the old man, quiet and ever watchful as he follows the two nobodies deeper into the former R&D of The Organization…

"Why would your Soul be somewhere down here, Larxene?" Axel questioned as he, the old man, and Larxene walked down a long flight of stairs.

"Because I found this one room down here, it gave off this weird vibe… every time I walked inside it I'd just start bursting into tears." Larxene replied with her arms crossed over her chest, mentally fuming as Axel snickered to the side.

"How could you start crying Larx? You're the biggest bitch I know." Axel reminded and Larxene snorted, hey, she was well aware of how she acted, and quite frankly didn't give a damn what anyone said to her about it.

"To hell if I know spiky, all I know is I'd just start bawling as soon as I walked into the room, it was big and white with this weird symbols all over it, a throne, and a stupid suit of armor!" Larxene explained with her arms crossed over her chest and the old man raised a brow before smirking, he could tell what that was after all…

"You do realize it could have been the "Room of Awakening" that the superior was always looking for, right?" Axel questioned and Larxene placed her hands on her hips while turning to the red head, still walking down the steps only backwards now.

"Well excuse me spiky! But do you honestly think I'm telling ANYONE that I actually cried!?" Larxene demanded and Axel took a thoughtful expression with his arms crossed over his chest then shrugged his shoulders.

"Eh, probably not…" He admitted and Larxene nodded her head once while turning back around and continuing their downward trek. "But seriously, does this thing have to be so far down?" Axel wondered and Larxene shrugged her shoulders before stopping on the ground floor.

"Okay, it's over there." She stated while pointing and the old man passed them both to move towards a doorway. "Hey! Wait up you old fart!" Larxene shouted at the man before running after him and Axel calmly followed while rolling his eyes.

"You know, for being "Without a Heart" she acts like she has one really well…" Axel noted with a sly smirk crossing his features, while the old man placed a hand onto the doorway in silent reverence.

"It's been so long… such a long time since I've seen this place…" The man mused before pushing the doorway open, Larxene coming to a halt behind him with Axel as a familiar hallway was opened up, strange almost asylum like rooms to either side chained and barred up…

"Talk about creepy, you sure this is the place Larxene?" Axel asked seriously while looking around warily and Larxene herself shuddered slightly.

"Unfortunately." She admitted as they walked down the long stretch of hallway before coming to a door. "This is it." She stated and Axel walked forward before pushing the doorway open. Walking inside, Axel was surprised to see a throne in the center of the room, while white symbols were upon the walls in a circular pattern. The symbols looked like a heart made of twisting turns that formed into a simple heart with two spikes jutting out of the lower portion like the heartless symbol…

"What the hell?" Axel asked while looking around, then halted on a suit of armor that was laying on the ground nearby.

"The Room of Awakening, once used by the old order with the Room of Sleep to awaken the latent ability to use a Keyblade in a Somebody… But it was also used for a much grander purpose later on, one that eventually destroyed the old order…" The old man explained while walking into the room and looked over to the suit of armor, his eyes softening as he saw the grey, gold, and black armor once more. Among the armor was also an odd helmet that formed into an almost dog-shaped head with sloping blades on the top and black glass forming a visor, stabbed into the ground near the armor however, was an odd keyblade of some kind.

The Keyblade was mostly black, it was odd however as the shaft of the key formed half of the guard, the other half being a yellow gold color and shaped simply, the handle was covered by black leather and placed between the two parts of the guard, three yellow-gold bars were along the base of the shaft of the key, which then sloped upwards while it appeared as if the teeth of the weapon were bolted to it, the teeth themselves had an odd design, the first visible tooth being longest as they cured in a downward arc and got progressively smaller, meanwhile the chain of the keyblade was shaped like infinity symbols down into a twisting charm with a green gem centered into it…

"You know, I've never seen a Keyblade that looked like that before." Larxene noted, Axel remaining oddly silent as he looked at the blade intently, and the old man nodded his head slowly.

"And you may never see one like it ever again. It is a Keyblade designed for reverse wielding and lightning fast strikes… unlike the Keyblades used by that "Sora" boy or those of his friends." The old man offers in explanation before turning his head and nearly grinning as he saw another Keyblade… "Ah, so this is where its been…" The old man mused as he walked over to the other keyblade with a wide grin across his face.

This Keyblade was far more sinister than the other one, its teeth were made of black gear shapes with a red lining, the first set of teeth being longer while another set covered the back and were shorter, the shaft of the blade formed into an 8 at its tip with a blue cats eye jewel centered in the lower part, the shaft then formed downwards into two slopes before forming a solid bottom where it was attached to a golden gear in the center, the bottom half of the shaft appearing as one single piece while chains wrapped around it into two X's…

The guard of the blade was also dangerous looking, holding another blue cats eye jewel centered in it, with numerous silver portions reaching off of it in a strange almost ribbed manor with a small silver piece located below the Cats eye attaching it to a red handle that reached downwards, the rest of the guard curved into the hilt of the keyblade and was shaped like a black gear with red lining, last was the chain of the keyblade, it was shaped like numerous bronze gears going down into a broken S shaped bronze gear as its charm… (Gears of Madness…)

"What the hell is that?" Larxene questioned as the old man took hold of the hilt of the keyblade before pulling it out of the ground and holding it in his hand for a moment.

"It was the weapon of the Dark Half of the boy the order created… And a gift from one apprentice to another I suppose… Larxene, is your soul here?" The old man murmured quietly then questioned of the female nobody and she huffed.

"How the hell should I know?!" She demanded with her arms outstretched then stopped and looked around for a moment. Walking over to the throne she saw something on it and reached out. The female nobody then gasped as a white streak spiral up her arm and then into her chest. Backing up a few steps she screamed out loud as her knives suddenly appeared before spiraling around her body as lightning spiraled off of her body and then expanded for a moment. Cursing Axel backed up as the Lightning almost got him then watched as the lightning compacted on the woman.

Now standing in the place of the black skinned white clocked creature was a woman, her hair was short with long antenna like blades at the top of her head, her eyes were a wide azure blue and her skin was a fair color, looking on he saw she wore the same basic uniform as him, though the sleeves of her own dark cloak belled out over her wrists and hands to obscure them slightly…

Panting and looking around, Larxene then looked to her hands and grinned slightly before stretching out and yawning. "Oh that feels SOOOO much better!" She said with a hand on one hip and Axel pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, but I thought you said you'd normally cry when you were in this room." Axel suddenly reminded and before Larxene could retort, a strange shifting, echoing voice like grinding metal wafted throughout the room…

"_**This presence… this feeling… I know this feeling… Terra… why… why did you give up? Aqua… why… why didn't you erase me?"**_ The voice echoed and the old man quickly turned towards the armor on the ground as it suddenly moved. _**"Power… I know this power… but no… you are not the one, not the one I have chosen… why isn't he here?"**_ The voice echoed out as Axel formed his Chakrams and Larxene pulled her Knives from out of her sleeves a look of shock and surprise etched across both their faces. _**"Xe… ha… ort… Xehanort… Xehanort! I know it's you, what did you do? What did you do to us?!"**_ The voice wondered as the old man formed his black and silver keyblade into one hand.

As soon as he did the armor started to fly up into the air, suddenly forming into an armored warrior, the keyblade held in a reverse grip in his right hand. Crouching into a stance the warrior seemed to glare towards the old man. Grinning despite himself, the old man then tossed the "Gears of Madness" keyblade over to a surprised Axel. "Go, I'll deal with this welp, find my apprentice Naruto and give that to him to replace his Dark-Soldier…" The old man said quickly and Axel would have argued had the old man not formed a ball of black fire into one hand.

"I said, GO!" He ordered harshly and Axel looked to Larxene, the girl nodding as she turned and ducked into a Dark-Corridor, Axel reluctantly following her. Meanwhile, the old man grinned while the strange armored knight lunged forward, vanishing as the warrior swung his keyblade at him, the old man grabbed his head from behind, the warrior kicking and trying to hit him. "So I see you have not learned anything, Ventus… your still much too weak." The old man uttered ominously as his golden yellow eyes stared out from the shadows of his hood…

--

(??)

A familiar blond haired teen groaned as he pushed himself to his feet then placed a hand to his forward with a visible scowl. "Alright, my armor continuously disappearing after I go to new worlds is really starting to piss me off…" Naruto grumbled out before looking around the new world he'd landed on. Seeing what appeared to be a very small town, Naruto pushed himself up to his feet. Hearing groans, moans, and the sounds of gunfire, Naruto raised a brow before making his way into the town. Getting a bad feeling as he walked into the building he pulled his two keyblades from his back.

"Man I've seriously got a bad feeling about this place…" Naruto whispered while he made his way around the town. Looking around when he reached an intersection, Naruto turned when he heard a low groaning sound. Seeing someone on the ground trying to crawl the blond cursed and rushed over to the person. "Shit, are you okay?" Naruto asked quickly, then cursed as the person lunged at him with its mouth wide open. "What the fuck?!" He demanded loudly before kicking the thing off of himself before rolling back and into a crouch.

The person then turned around and pushed himself up, Naruto looking on in disgust seeing rotted flesh with hollow eyes and crooked yellow teeth. "Well, you look like something straight out of a nightmare." Naruto murmured under his breath then twirled Soul-Blade in one hand as the creature ran towards him. Swinging the weapon he cut the creature in half down the middle and watched it fall to the ground dead. Hearing more moaning / groaning, the blond turned to see more of the creatures heading for him from the side and mentally cursed.

"Great, just what I didn't need." Naruto said to himself before quickly running to a building and jumped onto its side before kicking off to the building next to it. "Later!" Naruto exclaimed before heading towards the sounds of gunfire, noting that the streets were teaming with the odd creatures. "What the hell is wrong with this world?" Naruto wondered while throwing Soul-Blade forward and hopped onto it. Flying on top of the blade as he rode over the creatures, Naruto saw a church in the distance where the gunshots seemed to be coming from.

Seeing something below, Naruto raised a brow as several of the creatures suddenly lost their heads, then groaned when he saw a familiar brown haired girl grinning insanely. "Great, the psycho's here." Naruto muttered quietly before noticing that the odd creatures were surrounding the girl. "I can't just leave her like this…" Naruto mused while hovering in the air then took a thoughtful expression while watching her spin, flip, and jump around swinging her Ring-Blade.

"On the other hand, she can take care of herself… but I did kind of open the gate that dumped her here and got her in this mess… But then again she also tried to cut me into ribbons… of course I also did kind of help Kratos kill her master." Naruto mused while floating above the girl then sighed when he saw she was being surrounded. "Aw hell, it's not like I have anything better to do." He grumbled while hopping off Soul-Blade and catching it on his way down to the ground. Landing in a low crouch Naruto quickly swung both of his blades, instantly cutting the few zombie like creatures around him into pieces.

Quickly turning Naruto slashed the next Zombie while Tira flipped over him and swung her Ring-Blade, slicing heads off of the zombies easily. Bringing both of his keyblades up at that, Naruto knocked another Zombie down while flipping onto his feet at the same time. "None of them are turning into Heartless…" Naruto noted with no small amount of surprise before shaking his head and frowning. "Well, zombies are dead, so I guess they don't have hearts for my keyblade to take." Naruto mused before turning on one heel and throwing both of his keyblades, the weapons spinning as they flew from his fingers, beheading many of the Zombies.

Catching his blades, Naruto landed in a low crouch and then twirled his blades at his sides, Anti-lightning forming over them as he slammed both into the ground. Instantly an arc of lightning stretched off of his keyblades and tore threw several of the Zombies. Seeing more coming his way, Naruto decided to pull a Kratos as he focused his Anti-Lightning at his center then allowed it to spread out of his body like how Kratos used "Poseidon's Rage". The Anti-Lightning arched and curved out of his body instantly, basically cooking the feeble Zombies while Naruto then fell into a crouch.

Giggling insanely as she flipped to stand behind him, Tira started to spin her ring blade around her right forearm. Quickly twisting on her heel and catching the blade in her hand while still spinning it around, Tira threw the weapon in a wide arc around the area, beheading more of the zombies in one fell swoop. Blinking as he stood up, Naruto looked at the girl with no small amount of surprise as she effortlessly destroyed at least twenty of the zombies. Giggling to herself once more, Tira then flipped over to her Ring-Blade and kicked the weapon up into her hands before looking around with a pout.

"What, no more? But I was just starting to have fun!" Tira complained and Naruto gave the brunette a flat look before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well looks like I was right in my initial assumption… she's completely bat-shit crazy." Naruto said with a shake of his head, leaning Soul-Blade into one shoulder with Dark-Heart sheathed on his back. Blinking at the voice Tira turned to the blond then grinned widely, making the blond grimace. "Oh that can't mean anything good." Naruto whispered to himself before cursing as Tira lunged forward, knocking him back as she sat on top of him with a wide grin.

"Master! I'm so glad to see you!" She stated and Naruto plainly gaped at the brown haired girl.

"Master? When the hell did this happen?" The blond demanded and Tira pointed to Soul-blade with a wide grin on her face. "Oh right… you pledged your mind body and soul to this thing didn't you… wait, what about your heart?" Naruto said then asked and Tira scrunched up her nose while looking at the blond.

"What Heart?" She asked the other teen seriously and Naruto raised a brow before a thought came to him. Tira was a slave, a servant to Soul-Edge, and she had two minds, however, for some strange reason her emotions were so outlandish they didn't seem real. Also, whenever he had hit her with Dark-Heart, nothing happened to her unlike others who either managed to hold back its darkness through sheer force of will, or succumbed to it and became a Heartless. If the girl didn't have a heart, it would explain why Dark-Heart didn't affect her, but why she was so emotional didn't really make any sense if that was the case…

"That would explain a few things…" He mused seeing as Dark-Heart hadn't turned her into a heartless even when he'd actually managed to hit her with it. _'But I'd assumed it was because she had a strong enough will to fend it off… then again she is a slave so that wouldn't make sense.'_ Naruto mused while Tira continued to grin down at the blond haired teen. "Alright… first order, get off me." Naruto stated and Tira moved quickly, flipping off of him and sitting with her knees below her before the blond.

Blinking at the impressive move, Naruto pushed himself up onto his feet while lightly tapping Soul-Blade into his shoulder. Looking over the girl for a moment, Naruto considered how he could test if she was really his "Slave" considering she could've just been trying to lull him into a false sense of security before killing him herself. _'Ah what the hell, I've always wondered if this would actually work.'_ Naruto then thought as a rather silly idea came to mind, thus looked at Tira before speaking his order.

"Jump." Naruto said and without questioning the blond, Tira placed her hands onto the ground and literally jumped into a flip, landing in the same position she started in a second later… "Okay, I didn't actually think that would work." Naruto admitted to himself while scratching his cheek then took a thoughtful expression. "Why don't you have a heart?" Naruto questioned and a crazed look, one eerily similar to one Miterashi Anko's own, crossed over Tira's features.

"I once failed my master in finding it a host, so it took me as its host for a while. The exposure to its energies ripped my mind apart, twisted my soul, and changed my body into the perfect servant for its needs. My heart was all but destroyed by that same process, Master, and I've never really needed one anyways." Tira explained with that same happy grin stretched across her face and Naruto grimaced at the explanation.

'_Okay, so her mental state is a result of "Soul-Edge" a sentient, evil sword, while somehow my "Soul-Blade" is a lesser, and thankfully non-sentient, version of Soul-Edge. She pledged herself to Soul-Edge so since its gone, in her mind her new master is Soul-Blade, but since I control it, she serves me… jeez what a hassle, now I have a crazy, albeit hot as hell, chick whose probably going to follow me around everywhere I go?'_ Naruto mused to himself before a suddenly thought came to mind.

"What did those energies do to your body and soul? You'd be a Nobody right now if you truly didn't have a heart." Naruto noted and Tira tilted her head to one side, a thoughtful expression across her face.

"The energy made my body stronger, faster, slimmer, more flexible, and more durable. It also gave my soul the ability to absorb other souls into myself to give them to my master." Tira explained with a psychotic grin and Naruto grimaced at that last bit, though granted she could probably kill Soulless left and right given all they were was a soul that had been bathed in light…

"Okay. Then why were you fighting all those zombies just now?" Naruto then asked and Tira tilted her head to the other side and grinned widely.

"A man in red asked if I wanted to kill something, I did of course so he said I could kill all these things as much as I wanted! He said they call them Ghouls here, and that he was sent to exterminate the thing that made them. I like that man, and I like this world Master, there are so many of these Ghoul things to kill!" Tira said happily while still sitting before the blond, barely moving a muscle while Naruto looked around and frowned when he noticed none of the "Ghouls" were around anymore.

"Right. Then do you know where he went?" Naruto asked and Tira nodded her head to the blond boy quickly. "Good, then lead me too him, whenever I land on a world I'm usually nearby whomever it seems I'm supposed to help destroy things…" Naruto noted seeing as both Alice and Kratos had only really needed his help with destroying things…

"Follow me Master!" Tira shouted as she flipped to her feet, not questioning her master with any silly whys. He was her master, she was his servant, all she needed to know was what he wanted and how many people he wanted dead. Anything else was utterly irrelevant to the girl; self-worth was ironically among those things as she ran off towards a chapel. Naruto couldn't help shaking his head as he followed after the girl then grunted when he saw more Ghouls up ahead.

"Don't these things ever give up and just die?" Naruto wondered and yet Tira grinned widely while looking at the Ghouls.

"Let's play!" She exclaimed loudly before lunging forward and swinging her ring-blade, Naruto growling as he came up and jumped over her while bringing his key-blades down and cut the heads from the next few Ghouls…

--

(The Chapel…)

The "Man in red" as Tira had put it was walking into the old building, lashing out when he felt something off, the man broke through the ancient wood of the building easily. Allowing the door to fall into splinters to the ground, the man glared forward, his grin never leaving even as he narrowed his eyes on the scene before him. He saw a pale man dressed up like a priest with red eyes, pointed ears, and cropped black hair. However, the man had one arm around the neck of a young girl, one who barely looked like she was out of her teens at the most.

The girl was very pretty, though seemed oddly innocent to his eyes, with the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen, her skin was a fair creamy complexion and she seemed to completely forgo makeup entirely, and her hair was an orangeish blond color, spiking out slightly at the back of her neck while her bangs wantonly fell into her face. She was dressed in blue pants with large pockets on her thighs and a blue shirt with a pocket on each bicep, overtop that she wore a long dark-blue vest of some kind with a black belt that held a holster for a gun, one which he noticed was on the floor, her hands were covered by pristine white gloves, and her feet were covered by thick combat boots.

However, something was off about the girl, her posture seemed to suggest relaxed, but the glazed look in her eyes pointed more towards a basic form of hypnosis even the simplest of his kind could conjure. Narrowing his eyes on the girl, the man scanned her surface thoughts with his own dark powers. Seeing what had been happening to the girl before his timely arrival the red-coated man couldn't help a mental frown even as he continued to grin. "I've had enough of you, god-damned punk!" The man stated darkly, mouth still twisted into a Cheshire cat's grin.

"And just who are you?" The man asked with a sneer as the red coated man's grin was toned down into an amused smile, his slitted crimson eyes hidden behind the orange lenses of his glasses.

"My name is Alucard. I am but a servant to the Hellsing Organization." Alucard replied curtly while allowing his glasses to fall away from one eye, which he narrowed on the "Priest" dangerously. "I deal with garbage like you." Alucard intoned darkly, drawing mocking laughter from the opposite man, exposing his own sharp canine teeth.

"Just who do you think your talking to? Have you lost your mind?" The man demanded while continuing to hold the girl in his arms who was leaned into one of his arms languidly, as if she couldn't support herself.

"No, your even less than garbage…your just scum." Alucard stated simply, a scowl crossing over the targets face and making him smirk. "And just look at that ridiculous costume… you look like some sort of sad carnival freak." Alucard continued to prod, the scowl turning into a look of pure rage at the black haired man's words. Suddenly grinning the man snapped his fingers, men in blue uniforms rising up from the seats and shadows in the room, all holding guns towards the man.

"I think you should DIE now." The man growled out as Alucard raised a brow with a mocking smirk across his lips. "Kill him!" The freak exclaimed and the Ghouls quickly opened fire on Alucard, breaking his glasses and tearing his body apart as they pelted him with continuous fire. Watching on with a horrified expression on her face, the girl watched as what was left of the man fell to the ground with a heavy thud. "Well, looks like he was nothing but talk." The strange man noted with a mocking grin directed towards the downed man…

That grin soon turned to a look of shock as one of the hands that had been blown off started to twitch, and a loud, haunting laughter echoed throughout the chapel. "Oh god…" The man whispered as Alucard's corpse slowly rose up then cracked its neck back into place while looking towards the man.

"Shooting me is NOT going to do you any good!" Alucard stated darkly before sticking out his unnaturally long tongue from his mouth. Seconds after the hand that had been blown off from the gunfire reached into his coat to pull out a massive silver gun. As he did, his body began to reform at a rapid, unnatural pace, clothes, skin, muscles, bone, and hair all reformed as if by magic, soon leaving the man to stand before them once more. Chuckling in his throat lightly, Alucard then lifted one arm and moved his gun behind his head, pointing it to one side as the shadows of his hat served to hide most of his features from view.

"You'll need more than mere GUNS to stop me!" Alucard stated in a low, dark tone while firing the gun he'd pulled from his coat to the side at the odd angle. The force of the blast made his arm move to the other side as well where he pulled the trigger once more, firing the weapon again. The effect of both shots was instantaneous; every Ghoul that the bullets he'd fired went through tore them apart before leaving only sand in their wake. The freak who'd ordered them to fire looked at the man in fear as he then fire a few more rounds, grinning darkly as the round tore through more of his Ghouls before only he, the girl and the red coated man were left…

"What are you doing? Both of us are Vampires!" The freak exclaimed and a scowl crossed over Alucard's face at the accusation.

"You act more like a cockroach than a proper Vampire. If left on your own you would cover the world in filth." Alucard uttered darkly while slowly reloading his gun as he did so. "I can't stand your kind. You don't have the self-respect to be a Vampire, you undead maggot! You barely even know what you are!" Alucard uttered dangerously while aiming his gun towards the freak as he chose to hid behind the girl. Smirking despite his intent, the red coated man looked over the girl before invading her mind once more, poking at her memories only slightly… and inwardly grinned when he felt one thought above all others in her mind… she didn't want to die, and she was still a virgin.

"Police Girl. I'm going to fire my gun now, and the bullet will rip through your lungs before it reaches the maggot Vampires heart." Alucard stated darkly while using one forearm to hold up his massive weapon. Smiling kindly towards the girl, he looked into her bright azure eyes with his own bloody crimson ones. "I know you don't want to die tonight. Do you want to come with me?" Alucard said then asked and the girl looked at him strangely as he looked into her eyes.

"I can't force you into this. The decision has to be made of your own free will." Alucard uttered with a slight tilt to his lips before turning cold as he aimed the gun straight towards the young girls chest. "Now choose!" He stated darkly and the girl looked into his eyes for a second before closing them.

"Yes." She whispered and the freak gaped.

"Now what just a…!" He started to say when Alucard fired his gun, the bullet ripping straight through the girl's chest and lungs before plowing into the Vampire and was thrown into a wall, disintegrating as soon as he hit. Falling back to the ground, the girl felt a numb feeling start to come over her body as she stared towards the ceiling. Out of the peripheral of her vision she saw the man in red walk towards her, his name rolling passed her lips at his approach.

"Alucard…" She whispered while the man knelt down beside her and looked at her with one eye, the other concealed by shadows.

"Remember that the choice was always yours, Police-Girl." Alucard whispered while brushing some blood from her face, and leaning forward. Smirking towards the girls barely opened eyes he couldn't help a slight smile. "This is the part where you're supposed to close your eyes." He whispered softly and the orangeish blond haired girl closed her eyes as Alucard descended on her throat with a heavy intake of air…

--

(With Naruto…)

Naruto was learning to hate Zombies, or Ghouls, or whatever the hell these things were supposed to be. He cut, slashed, kicked, hit, slammed, crushed, froze, and electrocuted over a third of the populace of these things yet they STILL somehow managed to get up. Eventually, he'd just started sticking to cutting off their heads since that seemed to bring them down more than easily enough. Flipping back as one lunged at him, Naruto swung Dark-Heart to cut the head from another Ghoul before twisting and swinging Soul-Blade to behead another.

Breathing out a few panting breaths, Naruto flipped back over another Ghoul while slicing its head from its shoulders as he came down behind it. The blond haired boy then slid to a halt as he looked around, spotting Ghouls suddenly dropping dead and turning into piles of sand. "Aw, they're all dieing so peacefully now!" Tira complained while Naruto gave his new servant a look before walking off towards the chapel they'd been heading for. Stopping when he saw someone exit the building, he blinked upon actually SEEING the man in red…

The man was easily six feet tall, if not taller, with a clean shaven face and long black hair that slightly obscured his features, his skin however was unnaturally pale with a strong build, but it was his eyes that disturbed Naruto, crimson red with a thin slit for the pupil, eyes identical to those of The Kyuubi… The man was dressed in a red wide brimmed hat, a long red duster trench coat, a pair of long black combat boots, dark-grey pants, dark-gray vest with a white button down shirt beneath it with a red tie and white gloves over his hands that bore odd seals on the back of each…

"Whoa." Naruto murmured then saw a girl was held in the man's arms, covered in what looked like a very old blanket. The orangeish blond mop of hair on her head making him blink, but the crimson red eyes that was not focused or seeming to see anything drew his own eyes quickly.

"My my, so you're the new Dark-Keyblade Bearer." Alucard mused aloud and Naruto blinked before looking to the man with a raised brow. Chuckling, Alucard continued to walk forward, passed the blond who turned as he passed. "It would be best if you followed me, I'd like an update on the happenings of the worlds, and I'm sure my master can at least offer you two a place to stay while you're here…" Alucard offered while making his way from the blond and Naruto raised a brow before following after the man, and then sighed as he turned to Tira.

"C'mon Tira…" He said while waving a hand and Tira grinned while following the blond haired Ex-Shinobi as he followed behind Alucard. Walking behind the man, Naruto placed his hands into his pockets as he followed him and then frowned.

"So what'd you want to know about other worlds anyways?" Naruto asked and Alucard smirked.

"I haven't had any contact with anyone not from this world in many, many years, anything would be nice." Alucard responded and Naruto frowned in thought for a few moments before suddenly grimacing.

"How about that the Darkness has a new problem in the form of creatures calling themselves "Soulless"… know anything about them?" Naruto asked and seemed to peak the man's interest as he turned to look at the blond with a raised brow.

"Soulless?" He asked and Naruto nodded his head.

"From what little I've learned their creatures whose souls have been bathed in pure light. They are more organized than a Heartless but less intelligent than a Nobody. The lesser breeds seem to be able to summon a stronger breed to help them, and they have the faith and conviction of religious zealots. The only purpose and desired any of them seem to have is to destroy darkness in all its forms, they even attacked me while I was on a world called "Wonderland" because of it." Naruto explained and a frown crossed Alucards features at that little tidbit of information.

"That could be a very large problem if left unchecked." Alucard noted to himself as he walked with Naruto. "How much have you learned about your powers?" Alucard questioned and Naruto blinked before holding up his arms to show his Spellbinders. "Hmm… I haven't seen a Spellbinder in a long time. Four have been awakened, and two still to go. As far as magic you have the capacity for five spells and awakened two of them…" Alucard mused to himself before frowning in thought as he contemplated the strength of the blond and then mentally grimaced.

"You'd be annihilated with your current skills if you took on a truly powerful version of these so called, Soulless." He stated simply and Naruto narrowed his eyes onto the red-coated man dangerously.

"Master, may I kill him horribly for insulting you?" Tira asked from behind them and Alucard laughed evilly at the thought of the girl killing him.

"She can steal souls you know…" Naruto suddenly stated and Alucard's merely shrugged his shoulders with a slim smirk across his lips.

"Regardless, these Soulless are a danger to all of our worlds. Should they grow too powerful none of us will be safe. You, as the Dark-World Key-Bearer, were given the duty to defend out realm from the forces of light like these Soulless." Alucard stated and Naruto frowned while crossing his arms over his chest.

"I don't remember signing up for any such gig…" Naruto grumbled and Alucard rolled his eyes while walking with the boy and his servant.

"Too bad. It's the price you pay for permission to travel between worlds." Alucard stated and Naruto grumbled under his breathed for a moment before sighing.

"Alright, so how do you expect me to get strong enough to stop these Soulless?" Naruto asked and Alucard closed his eyes for a moment.

"Simple enough, continue fighting. Go from world to world; gain allies if you must to aide you in your struggles. The worlds of the Dark-Realm are harsh compared to the flowery childish worlds of the Light. This is why we are all stronger and more dangerous than any warrior of Light. You've already started on allies with Tira here, continue to gather them to fight these Soulless off… and then, well, what your do afterwards with that power is up to you." Alucard explained then uttered darkly and Naruto nodded his head slowly while walking beside of the man.

Suddenly grinning, Alucard looked into the distance to see someone standing beside of a limo. Walking silently forward then reached up and zipped his Dark-Cloak closed while pulling the hood over his head to shadow his features as he looked over the person critically. The woman had a dark skin tone with long platinum blond hair that framed her face, a pair of wire frame glasses before her cold piercing blue eyes, and held a cigar in one hand. She was dressed in what appeared to be a green men's suit, black shoes, white gloves, a white button down shirt, and a blue tie with a silver cross pin.

"Mission objective accomplished. The target Vampire has been silenced. The limited power release is completed." Alucard offered while bowing his head to the woman, Naruto crossing her arms over his chest while Tira looked at the woman strangely.

"It took you far too long to silence just one target." The woman stated with a thin smirk over her lips then took note of Alucard's three companions and frowned. "I'll have someone take care of them." She stated while turning from the three and Alucard narrowed his eyes slightly.

"No." He stated and the woman snapped her head to the man, then spotted that the girl in his arms had crimson red eyes. "I want you to transfer the Police Girl to the Hellsing Organization. As for the other two, they are from other worlds, the one in black is the Dark-Key-Bearer I once told you a story about." Alucard explained and the woman raised a brow before squaring her jaw and narrowing her eyes on Alucard dangerously.

"You don't make decisions." She reminded and Alucard smirked while closing his eyes.

"The Police-Girl made the choice herself… and the Key-Bearer has most distressing news for you… Shadowed Princess." Alucard uttered softly, as the Police-Girl nodded her head meekly, then stated ominously and the woman's eyes narrowed once more before frowning as she turned her back to the three.

"It's time for us to leave." She called out to someone in the vehicle before her while Alucard chuckled as she hopped in and it drove off.

"So I'm guessing we have to follow you then…" Naruto noted and Alucard nodded his head before looking up into the sky, Naruto and Tira following his gaze up to a blood red moon.

"This was a perfect night…" He whispered before looking down at the Police-Girl in his arms with a wide grin. "Right?" He asked and she blinked before slowly nodding her head as she looked to the moon with the other three…

--

TBC…

--

AN: First of all, to all of you who are disappointed Naruto won't be visiting Prince of Persia. I've only played Sands of Time and after taking some time to play it again, I've finally managed to beat it. However it does seem like an Anti-Aladdin world with the Prince being a real prince unlike Aladdin, the Prince also doesn't really care for Farah at first, as apposed to Al towards Jasmine, however, they still eventually get together, and on both worlds The Vizier of their worlds, which Jafar was in Aladdin, is still the main enemy to both, I may still add this world, but if I do it won't be for a while.

However, I already know for a fact that the Prince will appear in the next Tournament with his Sands of Time gear and abilities. Who his partner will be is still up for debate, though if I do eventually have Naruto go to his world, he might even show Naruto a thing or two since they both fight with twin weapons and agility in mind, more than likely for helping him to get back to his own world if I do add his world to the mix.

Also, the name "Soul-Blade" is what the original Soul-Calibur game is sometimes known as. Hence why Naruto's keyblade has that name, I forgot to mention this when he got it. Also, Tira is only Seventeen, this is a confirmed age and I even checked on the "Soul-Calibur Wiki" to make sure. Also, no, I'm not confirming Tira as the pairing; she's just a servant to him, or at least Soul-Blade, at most for the time being. I'm still not sure whom I want him to end up with at this point…


	17. A New Organization

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 16**_: _**A New Organization**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

A familiar blond girl suddenly awakes from a nightmare and pants heavily while looking around her bedroom. _'It was just a dream, it was just a dream, I'm not dead, it was just a dream.'_ She mentally chants before blinking, realizing she's never seen this particular room before in her life. "Where am I?" She wondered before gasping and quickly lifted up her shirt to look at her chest before breathing a sigh of relief when she didn't see any massive hole there. Breathing a sigh of relief when she saw it was gone she pushed her shirt back down and then noticed a weight beside of her.

Turning her head the girl saw a grinning Alucard and screamed while he got to his feet. "Police girl. How does it feel now that you're a vampire?" Alucard questioned the orange-blond girl and she quickly reached to a bedside table and picked up a mirror. Looking at herself she opened her mouth in a slight grin and instantly spotted her new fangs. Screaming in shock as she dropped the mirror she didn't notice as someone else walked into the room.

"Your too loud Police-Girl, I don't care if you are a vampire. Your still English, have some manners." Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Van Helsing commented as she saw the girl screaming her head off. Blinking and turning to the dark skinned woman the girl sighed before slumping forward and burying her face into her sheets.

"So I'm a Vampire… Sorry but where am I?" She asked as she looked up and Integra pulled one of her gloves on over her hands.

"This is our headquarters. We are called the Hellsing Organization. We are the monsters that protect England from the OTHER monsters." Integra replied while an old man walked into the room beside her with an amused smirk.

"So you're telling me… your saying that I'm…" The girl started to ask while the old man walked towards her with something in his hands.

"Given your condition and attachment to Alucard, you'll be working for us from now on." Integra stated while the old man handed a blue outfit to the girl that had an odd crest on it and smiled towards her, Alucard Grinning at her side. "We've received word that a string of Vampire attacks. You are to go and kill the Vampire, Police-girl." The woman stated while the girl blinked for a moment.

"Um… I do have a name…" She started to say but Integra and the old man were already leaving, Alucard chuckling as he followed them. "My name is Seras Victoria…" The girl mumbled to herself before looking at the uniform and then slowly turned to get off of the bed. Placing the new uniform onto her bed and stretching her limbs the girl was about to pull of her shirt when she heard something.

"Maybe the kitchen's this way…" Another voice came; though she noted it was also much younger sounding than the others, then spotted a blond haired teenager walking passed her still open door with his arms crossed.

"Master I don't think the kitchen would be down here." A girl with brown hair in an odd assortment of pigtails with a long braid and disturbing, psychotic violet eyes commented while looking around, a ring shaped blade thrown over one of her shoulders and Naruto grunted.

"Shut it Tira, I'm following the smell of food… unfortunately it looks like I was following someone who'd recently had a snack." The blond youth muttered then blinked as he looked to the side to see Seras staring at him. "Yo." He offered while raising one hand and the girl blinked for a moment before sighing.

"Are you two Vampires too?" She asked them and Naruto scoffed before crossing his arms over his chest.

"Course I'm not, what a thing to say!" Naruto grumbled aloud and the girl blinked while looking at him.

"Then why does she call you master?" Seras questioned with a confused expression and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"She's insane, serves an evil soul stealing sword, of which I now wield, so she serves me too." Naruto explained with a dismissive shrug while Tira nodded her head with her usual happy smile, Seras looking more than a little flustered by the answer.

"Is there no normal people around here?" She asked lamely while looking to the side and Tira grinned widely.

"I hope not! I love this place!" Tira called out with her arms in the air and Seras stared at the girl for a moment, an incredulous expression on her face.

"Bloody Hell, what have I gotten myself into?" The girl wondered aloud and Naruto shrugged his shoulders before the old man from before walked towards him.

"Ah, here you are mister Uzumaki. My name is Walter C. Dornez, Hellsing Family Retainer. I was told to tell you that milady Hellsing wishes to have a word with you in her office." The man stated and Naruto slowly nodded his head while looking at Walter. The old man has pale wrinkled skin and a monocle over his left eye, his cold eyes looked piercing even at his advanced age and his slightly balding black hair was slicked back into a low spiky ponytail. He was dressed in a white button down shirt with thin straps around his biceps, red tie, a black vest, dark-grey slacks, black dress shoes, and a pair of white kid gloves to cover his hands.

"Uh… okay…" Naruto murmured and Walter nodded his head before looking to a confused Seras Victoria.

"Oh and miss Police Girl. I suggest you get ready for your mission now, you wouldn't want to be late after all." Walter then stated and Seras gaped towards him as he led Naruto away, Tira giving a cheeky grin and a wave as she followed the man… _'What the bloody hell have I gotten myself into?'_ Seras wondered to herself as she started to get dressed in her new uniform…

--

(Elsewhere…)

Naruto walked up to a door with Walter, the old man knocking on the door and waiting for something. "Send him in." The authoritative voice of Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Van Helsing ordered and Walter motioned for the blond teen to enter the room. Walking passed Walter as he opened the door, Naruto saw the woman sitting behind a desk, a Cigar held between her lips and her fingers laced before her.

"You wanted to see me about something?" Naruto asked as Walter closed the door behind him and the woman merely stared at him.

"Have a seat." She stated while motioning to a chair with one hand and Naruto nodded his head while walking forward and then sat down. "Now then. Alucard has told me a great many stories about your weapon, or "Keyblade", mister Uzumaki. However I must admit that many of them I believe to be complete and utter fantasy." Integra stated simply and Naruto twitched slightly before his eyes narrowed on the woman.

"With all do respect, Madam, you live in a world of magic and fantasy already… so it shouldn't be that hard to grasp the concept of a Keyblade." Naruto stated bluntly, Integra scowling slightly as she gazed into his azure eyes.

"Regardless of my feelings on the matter. Alucard insists that your Keyblades make you an exceptional warrior. He also insisted on you being allowed residence at the Hellsing Mansion so long as you and your servant remain on this world." Integra stated while taking the cigar from her lips and blowing smoke towards the teen.

"What's the catch? Nothing is free…" Naruto questioned then stated and Integra smirked for a fraction of a second before crossing her arms.

"Alucard gave a rather disturbing report on these "Soulless" as you call them. As we are both Beings of Darkness, you a "Seeker" as he put it and myself as a "Shadowed Princess", regardless of what we wish, we each share a common and innumerable foe that can spread itself much like a Vampire." Integra stated and Naruto nodded his head, agreeing with her on that much at least. "And as much as I wish it weren't true, we have been having randomized sightings of these Soulless for some few months now." Integra then stated while handing several blurred photos from her desk to the boy, Naruto taking them and scowling.

The pictures were blurry as hell, yet they clearly showed white creatures with a silver cross on their chest and face, some appeared to be Prisms or Fanatics, while others seemed like new Soulless Breeds… "How were you even able to get pictures of these things? I'd expect finding them would actually be more trouble than actively fighting them." Naruto asked and Integra snuffed out her cigar before lacing her fingers together once more with a flat expression.

"The past few months these Soulless have appeared in places near to Vampire attacks. More importantly, several incidents with the Soulless point to them actively destroying those Vampire's for one reason or another. Regardless of this however, I will not tolerate inhuman creatures invading my world." Integra stated and Naruto nodded his head, able to see where the woman was coming from. "Thus, in exchange for telling me all you know about these Soulless, ways to kill or otherwise destroy them, I will allow you and your servant entrance into the Hellsing Organization, and offer our full support in your endeavors." Integra stated, her glasses catching the light and shining brightly, hiding her cold piercing blue eyes from view.

Smirking, Naruto nodded his head to the woman and held a hand towards her. "It would seem, Sir-Hellsing, that we have a deal." Naruto noted and Integra reached out and shook the blond haired teen's hand…

--

(??)

Axel groaned while pushing himself up onto and shook his head before glaring over at Larxene as she had her hands to her face. Looking around, Axel pushed himself to his feet then cursed as he scanned for Gears of Madness. Spotting the Keyblade the red haired nobody gave a sigh of relief before picking the weapon up. "That is the absolute last time I allow you to open a Corridor." He stated as he placed the weapon into his cloak, allowing it to hang onto his side. Looking at the red head Larxene merely held up a hand before holding up her middle finger towards him with an annoyed scowl.

"Shut up." She grumbled then reached her free hand up to rub her temples while Axel looked around, wondering where they had landed. It was a vast desert, the sun was setting in the distance and he could see dust and sand was flowing around them like a massive mist…

"Great, now where the hell…" Axel started to ask before his eyes widened when the mist slowly dispersed, showing hundreds, if not thousands of Keyblades now surrounded them.

"Holy shit! We've hit the mother-load of Keyblades!" Larxene exclaimed while flipping to her feet and yet Axel backed up as he saw another ball of dust and sand blow forward. Holding up his arms as it did he and Larxene closed their mouths before opening their eyes, both feeling them widen as they saw something knelt before them.

The something was armor, this armor was put together unlike the last few, however this armor had a black bodysuit with orange patterns over it, red forearm plates with gold covering its hands like fingerless gloves, the left plate extending from the forearm like wings with a black stone centered in it, the feet of the armor were covered by odd gold shoes that left the instep bare, gold knee plates with red plates forming down from them, gold hip and thigh armor with black stones in the hip armor, red segmented armor formed down the chest and stomach of this armor, with a gold crest overtop the chest, gold pauldrons on each shoulder with black stone in them.

Last was its helmet, the helmet was mostly gold and folded down around the back of the neck and along the lower jaw and chin with black glass formed over the front of the face, two long red blades reaching off of the top of the helm. Placed before him however was an odd keyblade, its shaft was thick while its teeth covered both the front and back of the blade, a curved arc on the very tip of the weapon, the teeth and shaft being golden bronze in color, a black bar going down the center of it, while the guard for the weapon was an odd light blue color with a gray handle and a keychain barely visible on the weapon… (Keyblade: Gaia Bane…)

"I know that blade…" Axel whispered while backing up and away from the eerily familiar kind of armor…

"_**Aqua… Ven…"**_ A voice like shifting and grinding metal echoed out as Axel and Larxene looked at the armor. _**"Who are you? I can feel it… we've met before. But when?"**_ The armor questioned while Larxene slowly pulled out her knives, Axel forming his Chakrams while Gears of Madness briefly became visible to the armored knight. _**"Va… ni… as… Vani… tas… Is that you? Why? Why are you here? Where is Ven? What did you do to him!?!"**_ The armor demanded before it suddenly stood up before reaching forward and pulling its keyblade free.

"Larxene, something tells me, this is bad." Axel noted and the blond girl gave the man an "nah you think" look before holding her knives between her fingers.

"Just what I need to work all the kinks out, a nice brawl with some lame keyblade-knight!" Larxene stated only for the strange knight to rear back one hand, his Keyblade suddenly changing to form something over his arm. Lunging forward seconds later the knight nearly hit Larxene when Axel pushed her out of the way while rolling to the side with wide eyes. Growling, Larxene glared at Axel only to see his wide eyes and followed them, and then gaped seeing the keyblade knight had blown a hole straight through a massive cliff behind them with that single punch.

"Oh shit." Larxene whispered, truly worried now as the armor turned towards them, the keyblade changing back to normal as he lunged forward. The Knight then swung his keyblade, the blade lengthening like a whip as it slammed into Larxene once, twice, then sent her flying. Preparing to go after her, the knight was knocked to the side by Axel as he held his hands to the sides, his Chakram catching aflame and spinning. Catching the blades in his hands Axel then stomped one foot on the ground, flames surrounding him and the knight while Larxene zipped into the field.

"The thing about us Organization members buddy…" Axel started to say before throwing his Chakrams at the knight slamming them into him as he took a few steps back and Larxene suddenly split into multiple clones of herself. All three rushed at the knight, slashing wildly while laughing, then sent him flying into the air before he suddenly slammed into the ground.

"Is that we're at our most powerful as a TEAM." Larxene finished while the knight got up as if nothing they did had hurt it in the least. Holding its Keyblade it then pulled it apart, forming it into two blades as Axel and Larxene gaped towards the knight. Moving at unreal speeds the knight lashed out at Larxene's clones, destroying them quickly before slamming a foot into the girls chest and sending her skidding along the ground before being caught by Axel.

Holding the pieces of its blade up, the knight reformed its weapon before it suddenly grew in size and changed in shape, now becoming some kind of massive cannon. "HOLY SHIT!" Axel shouted as the cannon suddenly started to glow before a massive ball of energy went sailing at the two former members of Org. XIII. Both quickly made their escape from the ball, Larxene by using her speed while Axel cursed as he ran along the side of the flames around them, cursing as the blast still knocked him forward while the knight blocked Larxene's next attack by catching her by the throat.

Looking at the knight with wide eyes Larxene made a note not to ever make fun of it again before it slammed its fist into her gut, sending her flying back and into the flames Axel had created. Quickly rolling out of those, Larxene looked to Axel and the red head nodded his head. Growling, Axel brought his Chakrams spinning before his body and formed a fireball before him, as he did, lightning arched over Larxene's body before she suddenly vanished four of her appearing around them.

"EAT THIS!" Axel exclaimed as a wave of flames formed off his body, expanding outwards while Larxene formed lightning into her hands and then sent it flying out in four beams, one hitting the knight before the flames sent him skidding back. Throwing down his keyblade to stop himself, the knight then lunged forward, rearing back his arm and lunging forward at Axel, slamming his fist into the red heads gut that sent him flying back. Looking to the side, the knight flipped and jumped to avoid several knives from Larxene before coming into a crouch.

Looking towards the blond girl impassively, the silent knight lunged forward, appearing before the girl before slamming his keyblade into her from above, sending her flying into the ground. Groaning in pain, Larxene looked up to see the knight was floating above them, looking around it seemed before holding out one hand. Balls of flames arched from his hand, several hitting her and sending her flying back. Those that hit Axel however, made the red haired man grin as he felt power being returned to him.

"Big mistake…" Axel growled out before lunging forward, jumped onto the side of the flames around them and then came down on top of the knight with his Chakrams. The flames slammed into the knight from above before Axel then twisted and started to slam the weapons into the knight, soon knocking it back a few steps. However, seemingly without damage, the knight lashed out with its keyblade, sending Axel flying away again and causing him to groan out in pain.

"Ugh, just how strong is this guy?" Axel wondered while Larxene got back to her feet and vanished, appearing in the direct center of the arena of flames she screamed as she forced lightning out of her body in all directions. Cursing, Axel ran away from the girl as the lightning slammed into the knight sending him flying back. Seeing his chance despite the situation, Axel flipped onto the side of the fire ring and ran towards the knight, holding his chakrams at his sides before sending the flaming wheels straight into it, knocking it back a few steps.

Panting as they came back to the ground, both nobodies looked at the Knight with no small amount of awe and fear as it held its Keyblade forward, then placed it into the ground silently. _**"You are not him… not Vanitas… and you are also not my enemies. Leave this place…"**_ The Knight ordered before he knelt down behind his keyblade. Larxene growled at the clear dismissal.

"Why you arrogant piece of…" She started to say but Axel grabbed her arm before forming a Dark-Corridor and quickly pulled her away from the knight.

"Listen, we don't have time to fight this guy, nor can we win from the looks of things. It's better for us if we get out of here with our skins still intact and find that kid like the old guy wanted." Axel told the girl making her glare at him before nodding her head, eyes narrowed on the knight as they walked into the Dark-Corridor, leaving the Knight alone to his silent musings… _**'Aqua… Ven… where are you? My friends…'**_

--

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

"In the name of God, impure souls of the living dead shall be banished into eternal damnation." Several soldiers in green and black military guard with red and black shields patches chorused as one. An old man with a mustache and balding white hair with a scar down the left side of his face nodded his head once while looking towards them. Behind them all however, his arms crossed and watching the exchange is Naruto, blue eyes centered onto the actions of the group.

"Amen." The old man stated quietly and eyes closed.

"Amen!" The men responded before walking off the old man turning, then catching sight of the blond youth out of the corner of his eyes, but he ignored the teen and moved over to a familiar girl who was leaning into an armored vehicle. Seras sighed while leaning back into the vehicle, pulling slightly on the collar of her rather odd attire considering her new line of work. It looked like a blue "Mock Police-Girls" uniform with an old brown brassard on her left arm with the Hellsing Shield, another shield just over her heart, a strange darker blue collar around her throat that seemed thicker than needed, a shirt skirt, black stockings, white gloves, and black combat boots…

"Victoria!" The old man suddenly stated and the girl almost yelped while standing at attention before the man.

"Yes sir." Seras while looking towards him worriedly and the old man gave her a silent look.

"I understand that when you were with Devision 11, they may have handled you with kid gloves." The old man stated and the girl felt her hands clinch as she looked to one side. "Well here the gloves come off. I can't risk another mission, therefore…" The man started to say only for Seras to quickly interrupt him, Naruto mentally sighing as he watched this.

"I don't need any special treatment! Mission or not!" She insisted and the old man sighed while rubbing the back of his head.

"I would like to believe that, but… Maybe you're too highly strung for this." The old man mused mostly to himself while Seras gaped at him and Naruto couldn't help snickering slightly, an amused smirk crawling over his face.

"H-highly strung?" She questioned incredulously and then saw someone out of the corner of her eye and blinked when she saw a very familiar old man.

"Hello again Ms. Victoria…" The man said with a curt bow and the girl blinked as he did so. "We will be the ones taking care of your day to day needs." The old man stated while Naruto rolled his eyes and turned, walking away from the scene while the other old man did as well.

"Huh? I… well I…" Seras started to say before looking around, then back to Walter and blinked before tilting her head to one side, obviously confused…

--

(Elsewhere…)

Naruto walked through the halls of the Hellsing mansion, then stopped and sighed before turning to see Alucard drinking from a blood pack. "What do you want?" Naruto questioned and Alucard smirked widely as he turned one blood red eye towards the blond haired teen.

"Walter wishes to see you about your opinion on armaments for dealing with Soulless. Also mentioned something about getting you a weapon for dealing with Vampires. Your Keyblades would be useless against them after all…" Alucard explained and Naruto shrugged his shoulders before a thought came to mind.

"Where's Tira?" He asked and Alucard grinned widely.

"Last I saw her she was "Playing" with a few of the new recruits, they seemed to think it was wise to… oh how did she put it again? Oh yes… 'Touch her master's property.'" Alucard offered with a wide grin and Naruto groaned audibly while rubbing his temples with an exasperated sigh.

"She's going to be the death of me I swear…" Naruto mumbled while Alucard rolled his eyes before turning his head.

"Anyways, I'll lead you to where Walter is waiting for you." Alucard then stated before standing up and walked off, Naruto following the old Vampire silently.

"So… what is a Vampire? I figured you'd know better than anyone else." Naruto questioned and Alucard looked at the blond haired boy for a moment then grinned.

"It's too much trouble to explain. A Vampire is a Vampire, it's just that simple." Alucard stated and Naruto slowly nodded his head as they came into a large room, Walter sitting down and writing a few things.

"Ah good. I've been awaiting you Mr. Uzumaki." Walter stated and Naruto walked over to the man while Alucard vanished with a light chuckle. "Now first of all, we'll need to get you a proper Vampire hunting weapon since Alucard says that your "Keyblades" will be ineffective given their nature." Walter stated and Naruto reached into his cloak, towards his back, then unsheathed his silver short-sword. Handing it over to Walter he watched the man look it over for a short while before nodding his head.

"Very-Good, I'll look into getting you a new version for hunting Vampires, also, if you'd be so kind as to give me one of your throwing knives I'll look into getting you replacements for those as well…" Walter stated and Naruto nodded his head while handing one of the knives to the old man, watching him place both to the side.

"What about Tira's Ring-Blade? Will you need to replace that as well?" Naruto asked and Walter looked at him like he was crazy.

"Actually no. It would seem that miss Tira's weapon is made of a magical element that Alucard calls "Adamantine" it's sharp enough to cut even rock, strong enough to deflect even high caliber rounds, and according to him, the weapon could slice a Vampire into pieces easily. I'm actually very intrigued by this adamantine substance but she won't allow me to take a piece of it off her weapon for some research." Walter explained then admitted and Naruto rolled his eyes while the man reached into his desk for a moment.

"Oh, yes. Also, here, this is for you to show that you're officially a member of our organization. Alucard doesn't wear one, but he's infamous enough not to have too…" Walter stated the mused with a smirk while handing a leather Brassard like Seras's own to Naruto, the Hellsing Coat of Arms stitched onto it.

"Right." Naruto murmured while Walter then reached beside of himself and produced a pair of boots. "What are those for?" Naruto asked and Walter gave the blond haired boy a look.

"There for you." He stated and Naruto raised a brow.

"But I have my sandals, I don't need boots." Naruto stated and Walter sighed for a moment while standing up. Crossing his arms behind his back the old man walked up to Naruto and then stepped on the boy's toes. "YEOCH! What the hell was that for Walter?" Naruto demanded angrily and a small smirk crossed over Walter's face.

"That's what the boots are for. Regardless of your heritage as a Ninja, you're leaving your feet open to attack by wearing your sandal boots. Even if unlikely, it's best to be prepared for any circumstance Mr. Uzumaki. These were armored with Silver melted from a Manchester Cross and carry a silver blade near the toe and heel as well, making them effective weapons as well as armor, they will serve you well sir, even if they were originally intended for Alucard's use he felt they would be better suited to someone such as yourself." Walter stated while reaching up to adjust his Monocle and Naruto glared at the man for a moment.

"But, er… I…" Naruto started to try saying before sighing and giving up. The man did have a point after all, and it wasn't like he was wearing anything else from his time as a Ninja either. Sitting down, Naruto removed his Sandals and then placed them into one of his large pouches before pulling on the boots. These were black like his sandals, only longer, reaching up towards his knees with red straps to hold them on tightly with obsidian buckles, and had silver-ish metal caps placed over his toes and heels / instep of his feet. Finished pulling the boots on, Naruto tapped them on the floor while standing up then placed the Brassard onto his left bicep while hooking it to his shoulder guard.

"Excellent, now then I'd like to have a discussion on the Soulless. I know they are made from light so I was wondering if you could elaborate on how one would go about destroying them?" Walter questioned and Naruto crossed his arms over his chest before answering the man.

"True Darkness seems to be the only effective weapon against them. However I've never tried to use anything else, Magic also works well so you might have to look into finding a magic user… besides me of course. Also, if you pull the Soul from their body, since that's all they are really, they'd die easily." Naruto explained and the old man frowned before nodding his head with a thoughtful expression.

"Most intriguing and problematic creatures… I'll see about finding something that can deal with these monstrosities. Thank you for your time, and don't hesitate to call if you need anything at all sir." Walter offered and Naruto nodded his head while getting to his feet and making his way out of the room and made his way down the halls of the building, stopping when he saw a restless Seras turning constantly on her bed. _'She's not meant for this fate anymore than I was… but she'll grow into it.'_ Naruto mused silently before smirking as he placing his hands into his coat pockets as he made his way deeper into the Hellsing Mansion…

--

TBC…

--

AN: The Hellsing World is based primarily off the Anime and the OVA of the series, thus why Seras eyes are blue but turn red when she uses her powers. This is mostly because while I'm more familiar with the Anime, I watched six of the OVA's recently and thought it made Alucard more… well, I suppose anyone whose seen them knows.


	18. A Demon's Defeat

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 17**_: _**A Demon's Defeat**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

Naruto sat in an armored vehicle, Seras and Tira with him as the blond haired boy wrapped his arms behind his head. "The target is moving north on route seventeen, butchering whole households along the way. Do not leave a single Freak Standing!" Integra ordered over the radio while Naruto frowned slightly. _'Wasn't planning too… hopefully a few Soulless will pop up with this case…I like this world as much as the next guy but it's kind of getting old.'_ Naruto thought to himself while Tira happily bobbed her head, humming a tune to herself…

Elsewhere, Alucard walked up to a lone house, a wide Cheshire cat grin stretched across his face as per usual. Stopping at the front of the house, Alucard reached a hand out and rung the doorbell while pulling out his silver gun. Waiting for a few moments, Alucard sensed the Vampire on the other side of the door and quickly fired dozens of rounds through it and into the unfortunate, and very stupid, Freak. Flicking the door afterwards and watching it fall inwards, Alucard grinned as he aimed his Castle towards the Fream.

Roaring out, the Target started firing a handheld sub-machinegun at the ancient Vampire, taking out pieces of the man's form. Waiting until he heard the target run out of Ammo, Alucard grinned as his wounds started to heal almost instantly while the First Target laughed nervously for a moment. "You don't know how to change your body into a mist or a bat… you can't heal any of your gunshot wounds… you kill women and children when you don't even need to feed… and now that you're out of bullets you can't even defend yourself." Alucard noted darkly as he stalked closer and closer to the first target with an annoyed look.

"And yet you dare to call yourself nosferato?" Alucard demanded while glaring towards the pathetic excuse for a Vampire darkly. "You disgust me!" He stated angrily while stalking ever closer to the Target. Quickly getting up, the First Target made his way from Alucard, knocking a pair of doors down as the Ancient Vampire grinned towards him. Taking aim with his gun, Alucard fired a single shot, nailing the Vampire in the heart and slamming him into a wall. Grinning widely, Alucard then started to shoot more and more bullets into the pathetic waste of flesh.

The Target screamed loudly as more and more silver bullets pierced through his body, leaving massive and bloody holes in their wakes. Grinning widely when he'd felt enough bullets had been wasted on the Target, Alucard lunged forward before throwing his hands towards the Vampire. His hand easily tore through the Target's body, and he then ripped it out and watched as the Vampire faded, turning into nothing but ash and a bloodstain. Stowing his gun away and turning his back on the scene, Alucard couldn't help the wide grin across his lips.

"Your turn… Police-Girl." He stated while walking away from a massive bloodstain in the shape of a cross. Upon the roof, Seras blinked while looking around, Naruto half asleep as he lay back on the roof beside her and Tira pouting, as she had really wanted to kill the Vampires herself. _**"I said it's your turn, Police-Girl."**_ Alucard then stated into her head and the blond girl blinked before slowly nodding her head.

"Yes sir." Seras stated as she held a massive riffle in her hands and looked towards a retreating dust cloud.

"_**What are you waiting for? Do it."**_ Alucard questioned then ordered in her mind once more and Seras frowned while looking to the distance.

"Sir, she's already five… no, six-hundred meters away." Seras stated and Alucard grinned while looking out the doorway of the house, arms crossed lazily.

"_**Forget all those annoying little habits you learned as a human. Imagine a third eye on your forehead, aim from there."**_ Alucard ordered and Seras blinked while trying to comprehend the order. _**"If your going to **__**shoot**__** like a human, you're only going to **__**miss**__** like a human."**_ Alucard then added and Seras blinked once more while looking into the distance warily.

"But sir." She tried to say only for Alucard to interrupt her.

"_**Aim for her heart. Don't worry, you'll put the bullet right through her."**_ Alucard assured while Naruto woke up and yawned before looking towards Seras with one eye opened.

"But sir, it's so dark and I don't even have a scope." Seras said, trying to reason with her master but Alucard merely rolled his eyes.

"That's a Human complaint." Alucard said as he floated up and stood on the roof a distance from Seras, Naruto cursing as he rolled back in surprise.

"Warn someone next time you do that shit Alucard!" Naruto grumbled out and yet the ancient Vampire ignored him.

"Now, take the shot like a proper Vampire!" Alucard ordered and Seras narrowed her eyes while getting into position. Looking towards where the target was running, her eyes turned crimson red like Alucards and her vision seemed to zoom in of its own volition, soon giving her a clear picture of the running female. Widening her eyes after a second, Seras took the shot and nailed the second target in the heart. The Vampire was propelled forward, blood staining the ground before her body turned to ash…

'_Its… I… how? It's such a big gun… b-but I hardly felt any recoil at all… I-it's p-pitch black but I c-can see more clearly than in daylight!'_ Seras thought to herself while Alucard grinned down at the girl widely.

"Good shooting, Police-Girl." The man stated while Naruto sighed then frowned.

"We got a Soulless down there." Naruto commented while the out of it blond girl lowered her gun with a shocked expression.

'_And now, I'm hearing voices like some form of telepathy!'_ She thought and Naruto sighed before looking over to Tira.

"C'mon Tira, we've still got our own Targets to deal with." Naruto stated while sliding off of the roof to the ground, Tira happily following after her master.

"It's all too fast… what on earth am I becoming?" Seras then asked and Alucard had to repress laughter, barely wondering what got the girl so out of it.

"Not yet… this is only the beginning after all. And you still have a long road ahead of you." Alucard mused to himself before turning to where Naruto was tracking the Soulless with Tira on his heels. _**'Yet, on the flip side, those two almost look like veterans at this sort of thing. Tira as a servant I can understand, but the boy… something tells me he has a rather… interesting past.'**_ Alucard mused with a wide grin splitting his face before sinking into a shadow as he went to follow Naruto.

"Police-Girl, the transport is down below, report in while I follow our two little Soulless Hunters…" Alucard ordered as he vanished and Seras absently nodded her head as he vanished.

Below, Naruto was looking around for the Soulless he'd seen before holding out an arm to keep Tira back. "Master, why didn't the Soulless go after Alucard?" Tira questioned suddenly and Naruto blinked before frowning in thought for a moment.

"Probably sensed it'd get slaughtered if it tried to get at him…" Naruto mused aloud and Tira made an Oh with her mouth.

"Makes sense." She admitted with a shrug while Naruto then narrowed his eyes on the Soulless and frowned. It was a basic Female Soulless, and only a Fanatic at that, the fact all it was doing was standing around greatly annoying the blond. _'And more weird is that it's not even trying to hide…it's just __Standing__ there… like it was waiting for something.'_ Naruto inwardly thought with a frown before a thought came to mind.

'_No, not waiting, this is basic Shinobi tactics, divide up your enemies then pick them off one at a time!'_ Naruto thought to himself with a mental curse as he quickly turned to Tira.

"Tira, deal with this one for me, I'm going to go check on Seras!" Naruto ordered while backing up, Tira grinning when he gave the order.

"As you wish, my master!" She said gleefully before lunging at the Soulless with a wide psychotic smile as Naruto backtracked. Above, Alucard watched them with an amused expression across his pale features. _**'So, the Soulless are intelligent as well. Annoying, but I suppose it does make things more interesting for us.'**_ Alucard mused while watching Tira jump on top of the Soulless then mercilessly start slicing into it with her ring-blade. Stopping to blink Alucard then vanished as a Soulless Prism came at him from behind, his grin never vanishing as he appeared behind it.

"Silent…" Alucard murmured as the Soulless turned and started to swing its sword arm at him. "Quick and agile…" He noted as he effortlessly evaded the slashes and sloppy strikes from the Soulless. Flipping back on the trees, the Soulless then bent it at an angle before shifting its weight to propel itself towards Alucard. "Oh, inventive as well…" Alucard noted before flipping over the Soulless as it passed below him harmlessly, then landed on all fours.

Seeming to shake with rage, the Soulless then reached up and grabbed its halo, the object suddenly spinning around its wrist as it fired a beam of light at the No-Life-King. Grinning, Alucard allowed the beam to hit him as the Soulless looked on, only to step back as Alucard stood before it, a large hole in his chest the only visible damage. "Oh and I shouldn't forget… you're very tenacious as well." Alucard mused once more before crouching down. "But, I feel this evaluation is over…" Alucard stated as he lunged forward and then jabbed his hand through the Soulless before pulling its soul into himself and then released it.

"Humph, against someone like me, these things are nothing… thought, I suppose some of the bigger ones could at least be an amusing challenge." Alucard mused to himself while the hole in his chest slowly started to heal, making him pause and look down with a slight frown. "Hmm… it takes longer for me to heal wounds from them…" He noted and then rubbed his chin for a moment before chuckling darkly as a grin spread across his lips. "Oh, it looks like they'll be very amusing new enemies after all." He said to himself before laughing as he vanished into the shadows to find Naruto…

Meanwhile, Seras was down at their transport, stowing away her heavy riffle while Naruto rushed towards her from the forest. Spotting a Soulless behind the girl getting ready to attack the blond vanished into the shadows before pulling her down into them and appearing away from the Soulless. "What the hell do you think your doing?" Seras demanded and Naruto merely narrowed his eyes on the Soulless, Seras turning to see it and gasping when she did.

Like the others it was a pure white color and clearly female in design, also like the others it had a grey metal Cross Flory Fetch over its chests with bolts holding it on, a Cross Moline on its thighs with more bolts, with dagger shaped lower legs, a Halo hovering over its head, different from the other types was that it has a grey metal "Cross Cercelee" over top its mask that was bolted down, it also wore a metal collar around its throat with bolts in it, a plate of metal covers its left shoulder, segmented metal armor covers its right arm from the bicep down and forming into long sharp talons, its left hand seems to have been removed with segmented armor covering its left forearm reaching down into a rounded ax like weapon. (Pureblood Soulless: Zealot…)

"A Soulless Zealot… a more dangerous and versatile form of the basic Fanatic, these Soulless moves with unmatched speed to rip and rend their enemies." Naruto mumbled in a familiar monotone before shaking his head and growling. However before he could do anything the Soulless crouched then zipped towards them, Naruto cursing as he dropped them both into another Dark-Corridor before appearing beside of the transport as the Zealot turned towards them.

"Alright listen, I'll deal with this thing, find someplace hide and stay safe." Naruto ordered while he pulled his Keyblades from his back to block the Soulless as it came at them once more.

"W-what? But I…!" Seras started to say only for Naruto to glare at her with one eye and a deep scowl.

"I said back off Kitten, you don't have any weapons to hurt these things remember!" Naruto reminded and Seras flinched before turning around, her back to the blond haired boy.

"You don't have to be so snippy about it… and my name is Seras…" Seras murmured as she ducked into the transport while Naruto pushed the Soulless back and away from himself. Narrowing his eyes the blond then watched the Soulless intently. Seeing it zip off he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling out for the creature before ducking. Turning on his heel the blond swung Soul-Blade at the Zealot, only for it to flip over him and then kick out quickly. Cursing, Naruto rolled to the side to avoid that before throwing Soul-Blade, the blade slamming into the Zealot's chest.

Looking down at the Keyblade in its chest the Soulless started to spasm suddenly before shaking and turning bright, blood red. "Well that's new…" Naruto mumbled as the Soulless then went transparent before it was seemingly yanked into Soul-Blade, the weapon glowing red for a moment before falling to the ground. "Humph, ugly as hell but really useful for dealing with Soulless." Naruto noted as he kicked the Keyblade back into an outstretched hand and then sheathed it on his back.

"You were a little rough with the Police-Girl, don't you think?" Alucard suddenly questioned with a smirk, sitting on the top of their transport and Naruto sighed.

"She can't hurt them yet. And unlike her that one was built specifically for speed, she would've gotten hurt if she'd tried to fight it." Naruto stated while crossing his arms over his chest and Alucard smirked.

"Aren't you being a little overprotective… she's my servant, not yours." Alucard stated and Naruto turned to see Tira walking towards him, whistling while lightly twirling what looked suspiciously like a bears claw in one hand…

"I'll trade you Tira for Kitten…" Naruto offered with a flat, serious expression and Alucard laughed before grinning widely towards the boy. "I'm dead serious…" Naruto then stated and Alucard only grinned wider still…

--

(Radiant Garden…)

A girl with bright red hair and azure blue eyes dressed in an odd jumpsuit is looks over two injured patients for a moment before turning on her heel and walking to a computer. "Heartbeat is steady, brainwave patterns normal, they seem to be fine Cid." The girl stated while the blond man nodded, then turned the unlit cig he had in his mouth over to one side.

"Right, so can ya tell me where they came from?" Cid questioned and the girl sat down before rapidly typing on a computer.

"Negative. The symbol they where on their brows doesn't match any in our existing databanks." The girl stated and Cid sighed while crossing his arms, Leon standing in a corner frowning slightly.

"We need to contact King Mickey and Sora about this. Where did you say you found them Cid?" Leon muttered then questioned and the blond man flicked his nose with his thumb.

"Found them laying unconscious in those "Dark Depths" where Sephiroth was." He admitted and Leon scowled while looking at the two.

"Hmm… get Aerith to look them over, then find me Vincent and Zack. They've seen more of the universe than any of us. If anyone can tell us where they come from its those two." Leon stated and Cid nodded his head before frowning.

"And what if they can't?" The blond asked and Leon smirked.

"Then we call Sora and Mickey." He replied and Cid nodded his head before walking out of the room. "Shelke, is their anything off about these two physically?" Leon then questioned and the girl started to type on the computer once more before stopping and narrowing her eyes.

"Affirmative. Readings indicate an unknown internal power source within each subject. Suggest further study to identify and catalogue." Shelke stated and Leon rubbed his face for a moment.

"I thought you were working on acting more human?" He questioned and Shelke blinked before shrugging her shoulders.

"I do not feel it is necessary for this task. Besides, I am only acting when I do." She replied and Leon nodded his head, since he could understand that… "Besides, I thought you were going to go back to being "Squall" rather than Leon." She then reminded and Leon twitched while giving her a look, the girl's lips twitched upwards in a clearly amused smirk.

"Ugh, never mind act however you want just leave me out of it…" Leon grumbled while rubbing his face and Shelke's smirk vanished as her features went blank once more. Turning back to the computer she got back to work while Leon looked to the two on the medical tables critically… one having gravity defying Silver hair, the other short pink hair, and both wearing a strange "Spiral Leaf" symbol on a metal plate over their foreheads…

--

(Hellsing HQ…)

Naruto, Tira, and Seras walked into the Mansion, Seras looking down while Tira was happily humming to herself. "Shut up Tira…" Naruto finally said before rubbing his temples, the girl instantly silencing herself.

"You certainly have her on a short leash…" Seras noted flatly while giving the blond haired teen a look.

"Oh? And Alucard doesn't practically have a noose around your neck?" Naruto quipped in response, smirking at the annoyed glare from the blond girl.

"No he doesn't. My master respects me." Seras insisted and Naruto rolled his eyes and shook his head for a moment.

"Last time I checked, people who had respect for others didn't go around telling them what to do…" Naruto noted and Seras twitched while glaring at the blond haired boy as Tira looked between them and blinked… for some strange reason she felt like she'd been in a situation like this with these two before…

"Well… Master is supposed to be training me. It's different than just ordering someone around for the sake of it." Seras retorted and Naruto reached up and rubbed his temples with one eye closed.

"Kitten, you really need to lay off, I've got the birth mother of all headaches…" Naruto mumbled with a frown and Seras crossed her arms while walking with him, both missing Walter and Integra waiting for them.

"Now listen here, no one but my old friends were allowed to call me that and even then I disliked it! My name is Seras Victoria." Seras stated while looking at the blond boy, and Naruto stopped to give her a glare.

"Listen, Kitten, I'll call you whatever the hell I damn well want." Naruto stated and Seras glared at him more fiercely.

"Are you forgetting I'm a Vampire?" She asked seriously and Naruto snorted.

"And I should care, why?" Naruto retorted and Seras started to crack her knuckles.

"Maybe because I could beat you to a bloody pulp with one hand tied behind my back, blindfolded, and without moving…" She stated through gritted teeth Alucard standing beside of Integra watching the show.

"Oh really? Well then Kitten I'd love to see you try that, just wait a second so I can get some rope and a blindfold for you so we can get this party started!" Naruto growled out while his eyes turned blood red with slit pupils and everyone, even Seras stared at him in shock. As he growled they also noticed that he seemed to have fangs and Alucard couldn't help a grin.

"Well, well, well, someone is sure full of surprises." Alucard mused aloud and Naruto blinked then tapped his tongue to one of his fangs and grunted. Calming down his eyes and canine teeth turned back to normal while Seras continued to stare at him with the most curious expression he'd seen since he last saw Alice stare at him.

"But… your not a… and yet your eyes were…" She mumbled softly while trying to figure out what it was that she had just seen and Naruto grunted.

"Your not worth the trouble… I'm going to bed." Naruto mumbled before turning, rubbing his head as he walked over to the subbasement so he could get to his room, Walter raising a brow as he turned to Alucard.

"Surely you haven't sired two of them… have you Alucard?" Walter questioned with a raised eyebrow and Alucard shook his head, still grinning as he looked to the confused Seras.

"Alucard, please calm down your fledgling so I can debrief her… I'll speak with Mr. Uzumaki on this matter later." Integra ordered while rubbing her own temples, wishing to god and heaven she didn't have to put up with the combined annoyance of Uzumaki Naruto and Seras Victoria arguing.

"Of course my master, as you wish." Alucard said while walking over to Seras, Tira looking around and blinking.

"Should I come as well?" She asked and Integra twitched.

"No. Go find your master and do whatever it is you do at night…" She ordered flippantly while turning away from the headache that was three out of her five active agents and preparing to deal with one of those annoyances. Tira grinned at the woman's order before happily making her way to the sublevel as well, Walter shaking his head with an amused smirk, wondering how things were going to get hectic next…

--

(Later…)

Naruto tossed and turned in his sleep, feeling his head continue to throb violently while a voice echoed in the back of his mind. Opening his eyes, Naruto grit his teeth while pushing himself to his feet. "Wait, this isn't my room…" He muttered before looking around, finding himself in the Kyuubi's cage within his mind. "Dammit, what the hell do you want Kyuubi, I'm pissed enough so…" Naruto started to demand only to be thrown back as red energy barreled its way through the bars, soon knocking them down.

"Urgh, what the hell is going on here?!" Naruto demanded as he slowly got to his feet and looked to the cage as he heard a deep chuckle echo ominously along the walls of the Kyuubi's sewer like prison.

"**Come now Gaki, all that Demonic Power I've been pumping into you lately must've at least given you a clue to that… And I've sooo been looking forward to seeing you again."** The voice of the Kyuubi commented and as Naruto turned around he took a step back upon seeing what it had become.

The once massive beast was now no bigger than him, its body completely covered in a sort of organic Armor like Naruto's "Dark-Armor" only it was red where Naruto's was black and black where Naruto's was red, his had no Spellbinders or shoulder armor, also, the "Half-Skirt" around his waist had straps at the front of it that formed a Cross Overlapping an X, a strange heart shaped symbol in the center of them, its fingers formed more closely into claws, and it had a pair of straps overlapping its chest and torso into another X.

Over his head, Kyuubi wore a metallic chin guard that curved over and around the back of his head before forming into twin blades that reached up to the top of his head before sweeping back like his two ears, a black glass dome covering his features while a pair of glowing red eyes still managed to loom ominously from his covering. Lastly, the beasts form was completely covered by familiar red Chakra forming into floppy ears and nine separate tails, though black mist were also rising off of his form as well.

"Kyuubi… but, but what've you done to yourself?" Naruto questioned and the Kyuubi chuckled darkly while looking towards the blond.

"**Me? You actually think I did this?"** The creature wondered aloud and Naruto twitched as it then laughed, arms spread out. **"No. I didn't do this Gaki, no I have YOU to thank for this lovely little upgrade to my power!"** Kyuubi stated while clenching a fist and Naruto took a step back before pulling his Keyblades from his back.

"Upgrade? I thought you LIKED being a giant hulking Fox." Naruto questioned and the Kyuubi snorted before crossing his arms once more.

"**Like being an oversized moving Target for you pathetic Ningen and your stupid Jutsu? Like being able to be sealed away into your disgusting little bodies? Like being controlled by those damnable Uchiha and Senju? Like being nothing but a splintered off piece of a much greater Demon?!"** Kyuubi demanded, voice steadily rising in pitch and fury before black and violet energy flowed off his body and knocked Naruto onto his ass. **"NO! I did NOT like what I was!"** Kyuubi growled out furiously before its eyes looked towards him and a chuckle echoed from his lips.

"**But. Thanks to you excepting the Power of Darkness, that is no longer a problem!"** Kyuubi exclaimed with his hands thrown to his sides before holding one hand to the side and forming a Keyblade into it. **"I also must thank you for introducing me to this little weapon… I've found that it's quite the powerful little toy!"** Kyuubi then stated while Naruto looked at its weapon with wide, shocked eyes.

The weapon started off with a pure obsidian handle, above it and centered in the guard was a bright red jewel with a slit in it like one of Kyuubi's eyes, stretching off of the jewel to form the guard itself was eight tails that seemed to wrap around each other before then wrapping around the pommel of the weapon, the shaft of the key appeared to be two long cylinders that were side by side with intersecting black bars, a flame like pattern running in between them, the tip and teep of the blade however were formed into a Kitsune's head, one eye jewel present for it's eye as well, forming the keychain was a pair of red ribbons that were tied around a seal-tag like the one that had previously been holding Kyuubi at bay in his stomach. (Kitsune-Soul…)

"**You like it, Gaki? I personally think it quite suits me. Don't you?"** Kyuubi questioned with a low chuckle and Naruto glared towards the beast.

"What the hell do you want Kyuubi?" Naruto demanded and the beast leaned its Keyblade onto its right shoulder.

"**Simple Gaki. I want my freedom."** Kyuubi stated while pointing towards Naruto and the said blond rolled his eyes.

"Are we forgetting Kyuubi, you can't leave my body since the Shinigami sealed you up in here?" Naruto questioned and the Kyuubi merely chuckled before crouching down, then lunged forward with blinding speed and slammed his fist into Naruto's gut.

"**Oh that. Are we forgetting Gaki, your Chakra was all that kept me trapped in here… and what happened to your Chakra when you choose to accept Darkness as your power?"** Kyuubi retorted then questioned as Naruto's eyes widened when the beast kicked him in the chin, sending him sprawling back. **"You gave up your Chakra to gain the powers of Darkness, so now, NOTHING holds me here now but your own blasted will!"** Kyuubi stated with a growl and Naruto pushed himself up while glaring towards the beast.

"That explains why I haven't been able to call your Chakra lately…" Naruto murmured while the Kyuubi chuckled darkly.

"**Yes. But I needed a way to get you down here, so I've been experimenting with my Demonic Powers and Darkness… I've learned so much in so short a time, Gaki! And now, I'm finally ready to get my freedom!"** Kyuubi exclaimed before taking a stance with his Keyblade. **"Prepare yourself, Ningen! Now you face my power!"** Kyuubi called out before lunging forward, twisting on his heel to lash out at Naruto as the blond quickly blocked the Keyblade.

"You think, I'm really going to let someone like you have his way?" Naruto demanded before pushing Kyuubi back, making the demonic Seeker slide to a halt. "I won't. Regardless of the fact that I hate you, I hate the idea of giving you anything even more!" Naruto roared out as Dark-Energy started to rise from his body, Kyuubi chuckling in his throat as his own aura of demonic and dark power swirled around his body.

"**Don't get confident Gaki. I may not be the King of Hell, but I'm certainly strong enough to crush an insignificant speck like you!"** Kyuubi stated before lunging forward, Naruto flipping over him as he did. Landing and holding a hand to his side, Naruto formed some ice before sending it flying at the beast. Grunting as the freezing cold ice hit him and started to freeze over his body, Kyuubi called forth fire, melting the ice away instantly. Laughing Kyuubi held his Keyblade into the air, wisps of red energy trailing off of it as he swung the blade, two of the wisps wrapping around Naruto's arms and legs. Crying out as the Kyuubi took hold of him, Naruto was then thrown into the air by the beast.

Rearing back an arm, Kyuubi sent his Keyblade flying towards the blond, nailing him before holding his hand to the side to reform the blade instantly. Laughing as Naruto fell towards the ground, Kyuubi twisted the keyblade in his hands and plunged the tip into the ground, fire flowing from it and forming all around them, on the walls and even evaporating the water. Slamming into the ground, Naruto made a mental note to figure out why the roof of this room was so high up before glaring at the Kyuubi as it chuckled once more.

Crouching down Naruto swung one of his Keyblades along the ground, sending an arc of dark energy flowing towards the darkness enhanced demon. **"Give up worm!"** Kyuubi growled out as he brought his arms close to his chest in an X. **"My power is truly absolute now!"** Kyuubi exclaimed while throwing his arms to the side, his power swirling off of his body before knocking the arc of darkness out of the way as it slammed into Naruto knocking him back and into the fire coated walls. Chuckling darkly, Kyuubi then made his way over to the blond as he slowly pushed himself to his feet.

Growling Naruto ducked into a Dark-Corridor, Kyuubi looking around for his prey only for him to come out of the ground below him. Vanishing into another corridor, Naruto popped up from under Kyuubi once more. Prepared for that tactic this time, Kyuubi cried out in pain as Naruto came out of a portal from behind him, slashing with both Keyblades and knocking the demon forward. Narrowing his eyes and roaring out, Kyuubi swung his body, some of the red energy shaped like a tail reaching off his body.

The energy tail wrapped around Naruto's waist and yanked him back and over towards the Kyuubi. Grabbing the blond by his throat Kyuubi chuckled darkly as he slammed Naruto into the ground, breaking it. Rearing hand back, Kyuubi would have stabbed the blond had he not quickly kicked him off of himself. Rolling to his feet Naruto formed some Anti-Lightning in one hand and sent it hurtling towards Kyuubi slamming into the Demon and causing him to cry out in pain. Panting when he'd finished, Naruto watched with no small amount of shock as the Demon flipped back to its feet, singed armor slowly repairing itself.

"Ugh… is this what it's like fighting me? It's really annoying…" Naruto muttered to himself before rearing both his keyblades back and hurled them at the demon. Growling angrily, Kyuubi batted the weapons away before throwing his Keyblade into the air and held his hands to his sides, gathering black and purple flames into them. Taking hold of his keyblade at the last second as it came down, Kyuubi channeled the flames through it causing a beam of fire to shoot from the tip of the blade and hit Naruto, sending him flying back when he did.

Grunting and gasping in pain as he rolled onto his side, Naruto looked up to see Kyuubi walking towards him at a sedate pace. **"Pathetic Ningen, your no match for me, just give up and it'll all be over soon. You couldn't have stop me when I was nothing but a fragment of a greater demon, and you can't stop me now that I'm a complete singular being!"** Kyuubi stated and Naruto growled while glaring towards the beast angrily.

"Shut up… fuzz butt…" He grunted out while pushing himself to his feet and Kyuubi twitched at the barb.

"**Annoying Ningen. I thought for sure you'd have been some challenge with your Dark-Powers. But clearly I was mistaken."** Kyuubi grumbled before rearing his Keyblade back, flames arching along it. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto watched for the attack and then rolled out of the way of a fireball while landing in a low crouch.

"No Kyuubi… you weren't wrong." Naruto stated while holding his hands to his sides, his Keyblades appearing in hand. Standing up, Naruto watched the Kyuubi lunge forward and smirked, as he seemed to vanish into thin air.

"**What? What trickery is this?!"** Kyuubi demanded while Naruto's voice echoed around the room, before a hand of Darkness reached out of the ground and wrapped around his form.

"Don't you know anything Kyuubi? This is my mind; here I'm only limited by my imagination. If I imagine I'm hurt, I'm hurt." Naruto explained as he appeared to the side, arms crossed over his chest. "And if I imagine I'm healed… well…" Naruto said then went silent as his wounds started to vanish. "I think you get the picture." Naruto mused while Kyuubi struggled with the hand that was holding him.

"**YOU LITTLE RUNT!"** Kyuubi roared as he freed one arm and then sent an arc of fire towards the blond boy. Raising a brow, Naruto rolled under the arc and then smirked as the hand holding onto Kyuubi slammed him into the ground.

"Runt huh… I'll have to remember that." Naruto said to himself with a twitch then watched as the Kyuubi got up and roared out furiously, fire surrounding him as he did so.

"**I will NOT be beaten by a little Ningen Maggot like you!!"** Kyuubi roared out while lunging at the blond once slamming his Keyblade into Naruto's and plowing them both through the walls of the sewer.

"What the hell?!" Naruto demanded seeing an endless expanse of Darkness was now surrounding them.

"**That girl Alice's mind was twisted into that Broken Wonderland… I wonder if she cant control her own warped imagination if you actually can… or if you'll just lose your mind like she did."** Kyuubi wondered aloud as they fell soon slamming into a familiar glass platform, this one showing Kyuubi's form on it with his arms outspread and red / black chains forming a circle around him, a picture of his fox form shadowed behind him. Grunting, Naruto rolled onto his feet and growled as the Kyuubi stood up across from him once more.

"Now we end this Kyuubi." Naruto stated and the Kyuubi took his stance at the same time while Naruto flipped Soul-Blade into a reverse grip. Lunging forward, Naruto and Kyuubi connected their Keyblades before shoving one another back, flames forming around Kyuubi's form as he rose into the air.

"**I'll burn all things to ash, and leave only death in my wake!"** Kyuubi exclaimed as he then went flying towards Naruto, fire arching over his form. Cursing, Naruto rolled out of the way then grunted as Kyuubi quickly turned and came at him once more. Cursing under his breath, Naruto continued to roll out of the way of the Kyuubi as it continued to come after him before slamming it's key into the ground a wave of fire slamming into him and nearly knocking him off of the Station. Throwing Soul-Blade down, Naruto began to ride on it, much to Kyuubi's annoyance.

Riding around the Station, Naruto narrowed his eyes on Kyuubi, eyes that suddenly turned golden yellow as he did. Flipping off of Soul-Blade and grabbing it in mid air, Naruto swung both blades, an X shaped beam of energy flowing towards Kyuubi. Blocking the attack, Kyuubi then widened his eyes as Naruto kneed him in the gut before twisting on his heel and delivering a kick to his head. Taking several steps back, Kyuubi roared out loudly as he lunged forward, swinging his clawed hand.

Backing up from the Kyuubi Naruto landed in a crouch as his eyes narrowed onto the beast dangerously. "Still confused?" Naruto wondered aloud and Kyuubi glared at him, only to take a step back as he grinned and twisted on his heel. "Perhaps this will enlighten you!" Naruto exclaimed while slamming his Keyblades into the ground, an explosion of Dark-Energy flowing out and blinding the Kyuubi. Seeing as well as if it were day, Naruto lunged forward and slammed his Keyblades into the Demon before then lifting them both up and knocking him into the air.

Landing with a grunt, Kyuubi shook his head as his vision slowly returned and Naruto held his hands in an X over his chest. Glaring at Kyuubi, Naruto felt Darkness pool beneath him and groaned as it wrapped over his body. Now Naruto stood in his own armor, holding both of his Keyblades at his sides as he lunged forward once more. Looking up as his vision retuned Kyuubi cursed as the Red-Seeker slammed Dark-Heart into his helmet and sent him flying back. Shaking his head, Kyuubi growled before lunging at Naruto once more, the armored blond sidestepping a swing of his claws.

"**How are you doing this? I'm superior to any human alive! You can't beat me!"** Kyuubi demanded then exclaimed loudly while Naruto tilted his head to one side before lunging forward with blinding speed and swung Dark-Heart. Kyuubi quickly ducked under the attack only for Soul-Blade to knock him to the side. Twisting in the air, Naruto swung Dark-Heart upward and knocked Kyuubi into the air before throwing Soul-Blade and sending Kyuubi further into the air. Looking to his right hand, Naruto then saw a ball of black and violet flames arching in his hand as a voice echoed in his mind.

"_**You have awakened the power of Dark-Fire…"**_ It stated darkly as Naruto quickly threw the fireball upwards before it impacted with Kyuubi and exploded in a shower of fire. Groaning as he fell from the sky, Kyuubi looked down to see Naruto had vanished, only for the blond haired seeker to appear beside of him. Swinging both his weapons overhead, Naruto slammed them into Kyuubi, sending the beast flying down towards the Station where his body shattered it upon impact…

Falling through Darkness, Naruto and Kyuubi eventually landed on a completely black platform. Kyuubi groaned as wisps of darkness suddenly started to wrap around his body from below. **"W-what is this?"** Kyuubi demanded while Naruto walked over to stand before him.

_[This would be your fate Kyuubi. For daring to challenge me inside my own mind of all places.]_ Naruto replied while Kyuubi growled up at him, only to stop when the black glass that made up the boy's helmet suddenly started to melt away, leaving only the metal that formed over his jaw and the back of his head alone.

"**W-what is this?! Who are you?"** Kyuubi demanded and the boy smirked while reaching up to brush his spiky ebony black hair away, golden yellow eyes looking down at him with cruel intent.

"Me? Just call me… Vanitas." The spiky haired boy replied before leaning down and smirking. "And by the way… your services are no longer required. Have a nice after life." "Vanitas" replied darkly as vines of Darkness suddenly wrapped around the Kyuubi's form, slowly pulling him into Darkness itself.

"**No! No! Dammit!"** Kyuubi exclaimed as he struggled with the Darkness hold of him, Vanitas arms crossed over his chest as he watched on silently.

"What's the matter? I thought you wanted out of here?" Vanitas questioned of the Kyuubi with a smirk and the Kyuubi glared towards him.

"**Not like this! Damn you! Damn you to hell, Gaki!"** Kyuubi roared out as his feet suddenly vanished into the shadows and Vanitas shrugged his shoulders.

"Helping this kid is more fun than I would've thought. Heh, I even got to kick a loud mouthed demon's ass for the hell of it." Vanitas mused to himself while Kyuubi's arms suddenly fell into the Darkness.

"**I swear! Naruto or Vanitas or whoever the hell you are! I will make you pay for this! I swear it!"** Kyuubi exclaimed as he was completely swallowed up by the shadows and Vanitas shook his head.

"If you say so… but I'll just send you back to the Darkness even if you do somehow manage to crawl back out of there." Vanitas stated before snapping his fingers, a mirror appearing which he took hold of. Looking at his face, the boy traced three familiar whisker marks on his cheeks, before smirking when they suddenly started to fade away. Throwing the mirror behind his back and into another portal, Vanitas crossed his arms and stood silently for a moment. Breathing out a sudden sigh Vanitas snapped his fingers once more, an unconscious Naruto falling out of a portal nearby, still clad in the same red armor as Vanitas.

Kneeling down above the blond, Vanitas form suddenly shifted, his armor turning white where it was red while his glass helmet started to form back over his face. _**"Sleep tight blondie. We still have quite a lot of work to do… and I still have far too much to teach you about the power Darkness."**_ Vanitas said in the same voice Naruto had heard for so long, before turning his back and walking away from him…

--

TBC…

--

AN: I have watched POP: Warrior Within on Youtube and yes, it is a much darker version of the prince. I've desided to use that version, but that world will probably be the shortest one, Hellsing looks like it'll last for a while, Alice has one more visit ahead, and Olympus is going to have at least two more from now on. Anyways, I've watched numerous Videos about KH: BBS, one of which showed "Vanitas' Sentiment" a white version of the red armored warrior, one that also kicks your ass in one hit unless your insanely good. Why Vanitas is in Naruto's mind, I'll let you ponder his words and wait for BBS to reveal one reason for it…


	19. The Paladin

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 18**_: _**The Paladin**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(??)

A familiar old man grunted as he tossed a suit of armor to the side, dings and other types of damage visible on it. "Where is he?" The old man hissed while placing a foot onto the back of the helmet of the armor. "Where is my friend?" The old man demanded through gritted teeth as darkness began to wrap around his form. "Why isn't he here? I had to lie to those two Nobody simpletons because he wasn't here so where is he? Tell me you blasted piece of scrap!" The old man demanded while pushing down on the helmet, the armor ever silent as it barely moved at all.

Growling in anger, the old man reared his foot back then kicked the armor into the throne of the room with a deep scowl as his form began to morph from the darkness around his body. "Tell me what happened to him and I can promise I won't destroy you entirely…" He voice growled out in anger as he stalked ever closer to the beaten armor, the armor merely raising its keyblade before its hand fell to the ground. Walking out of the darkness, the old man's form had changed.

Now in his place was a tall, broad shouldered with the same clothing as he, his fingers twitching at his sides as he got down then grabbed the armor, fury clear in his yellow gold eyes. "Dammit! I don't want to destroy you, but I will if I must! Now tell me, where Ven is?" He demanded, his voice young and deep, filled with the youth of a young man rather than his older self. The armor was yet again silent, seemingly broken as it didn't move a muscle and so the man tossed him over his shoulder. Panting and breathing through his gritted teeth, the man turned and began to calm himself while the armor dragged its beaten form to sit back against a wall.

"Listen, we can work together, I can help you find your old body and your heart. You may just be a piece of his heart but think about it, together we could find the rest of it, and his body so you can be a whole being once again." The man offered while walking towards the armor and it held its Keyblade in its hand as he came closer and shook its head. Sighing, the man then reached up and unzipped his hood slightly before pushing it back and away from his face.

The man was fairly young, in his early to mid twenties at the most, with a strong physical build not unlike a warrior, with bright golden yellow obviously darkness stained eyes, and very dark tanned skin, his long silver white hair while his bangs were swept back into several backwards spikes while two spikes of his bangs also served to frame his face at both sides.

"After I managed to reform myself when that kid Sora destroyed my Nobody and Heartless, I knew I would have to hide myself from anyone who might've recognized this face, Ven. Once I'd reformed myself, my forgotten memories were finally unlocked and I remembered everything. I don't wish to hurt you Ventus, don't force my hand." The man stated as he walked towards the armor then reached to the side and a familiar black and silver keyblade formed into his hand, which he then pointed towards the armor.

"You are nothing but a memory… no, not even that, you're just his Unwavering Will given a life of its own…" The man said softly while the armor continued to stare up at him, cracks visibly along it. Sighing, the man lowered his keyblade; unable to finish off the armor he dispelled it and turned his back to the armor. "Humph… be glad you carry a piece of him inside your hollow shell…" The man muttered as he pulled his hood back up in order to hide and shadow his face, dark wisps of energy wrapping around his body and returning him to his old and physically fragile visage from before.

"Otherwise, I would destroy you for your insolence." The old man's voice came out while looking towards the armor with cold narrowed eyes. Seeing the armor move itself into a kneeling position, the old man walked away from it stopping as its voice echoed once more.

"_**For you… I have nothing but hatred left… Xehanort…"**_ The armor intoned as it knelt down, placing its keyblade onto the ground while bowing its head over the weapon silently. Frowning, "Xehanort" scoffed while folding his arms behind his back and then walked away from the armor, opening a Corridor of Darkness and wandering into its depths as he did…

--

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

It was a cold night as gunshots rang through a small village called "Badrick", the source of the commotion seemingly a hospital in the distance. _'Is it just me, or do Vampires have a thing for making appearances in small out of the way villages and towns like this?'_ Naruto wondered to himself with a blank stare as he stood on the roof of the building. Then rubbed his cheek while wondering why his whisker marks had started to fade. _'Oh well, at least no one will ever call me "Whiskers" ever again…'_ Naruto thought to himself with a shrug then twirled Soul-Blade in his hand and stabbed it backwards into another Soulless.

"Man I'd love to know where those things keep coming from…" Naruto muttered under his breath while cracking his neck and leaned Soul-Blade against his right shoulder. Turning his head to look to the ground below, Naruto casually watched Tira fight as she started cutting apart random Ghouls that had made it out of the hospital. Said Ghouls were currently finding out why Tira was such a psycho since she was cutting them all to pieces with a laugh and a wide grin.

'_Oi, damned if your inside, damned if your outside, now that's a bad couple of choices to have to choose from…'_ Naruto mused before sighing as a Soulless popped into existence on the roof once more. _'Where are these things coming from?'_ He wondered since ever since their arrival on the scene, Soulless had been popping into existence almost constantly. Sighing and deciding it didn't matter, the blond lunged forward and stabbed Soul-Blade into the creature, killing it instantly…

Meanwhile inside Alucard was making quick work of the Ghouls, firing shot after shot into the zombie like beasts and taking them out easily. Evading one's claws he twisted his arm over his shoulders and fired into the Ghouls head while then back stepping away from another Ghoul. "Police Girl…" Alucard then said while reloading, the said blond blinking as she heard her master in her mind.

"Oh… er, y-yes sir?" She questioned and Alucard sighed as he put his weapon away with a smirk. _**"Get in here and wipe out these ghouls."**_ The red-coated man ordered into her mind and Seras blinked while looking around. "W-wha… O-okay…" She finally mumbled before she rolled to the side and broke through a door, taking aim at the Ghouls as she did. _**"Its just too troublesome. You do it."**_ Alucard then said as he looked at the girl before him before walking to stand behind her as he pulled a blood pack from somewhere within his coat.

"There not real people…" She mumbled, unknowingly channeling the thoughts of Naruto's friend "Alice". "They might as well be zombie pumpkins, their just dolls." Seras said to herself, trying to convince herself of that while narrowing her blue eyes on the creatures before her. "Take aim… just one shot and it's all over." She mumbled before firing into the fray of creature, her bullets tearing through the zombie like creatures and leaving a bloody trail in their wake before they turned to ashes. Continuing to fire, Seras eyes started to narrow as her breaths came in heavy pants, her normally blue eyes suddenly turning a deep crimson red…

"Knock 'em dead kid…" Alucard mumbled with a smirk as he opened the blood pack and took a sip of it while following his little "Draculina". "She's better than I thought. But then again, she'd have to be good, for me to make her a blood relative." Alucard mused to himself as he continued to drink his blood then stopped as half of a ghoul landed before him and roared up at him. Mentally sighing, Alucard pulled out his gun and shot the ghoul in the head with a loud bang, blood flying everywhere.

"Police girl. When you aim make sure to put a hole through the heart or the head. Just remember, these people did not become undead Ghouls by choice. There's no way to cure them when they've been changed. Its best to put them to rest as quickly as possible." Alucard ordered as Seras switched to a full automatic setting on her weapon, sending out a spray of bullets into the Ghouls. Soon finished the girl released the Mag from her weapon and then reached back for another one, Alucard grinning when he saw her glowing red eyes first hand.

"**Sir yes sir, my master!"** Seras said with a crazed tint clear to her voice, a wide Tira like grin stretched across her face, as Alucard's own grin widened. Reloading her weapon and watching as several Ghouls came out of several nearby rooms, Seras grinned darkly then ran forward. Evading a hail of bullets with blinding speed, Seras then got down into a kneel and fired at the Ghouls while still moving towards them, sliding around them and turning to face them at the same time.

Releasing hold of her gun, Seras lunged at the sole remaining Ghoul and lashed out with a quick punch, knocking the ghoul to the ground. Placing her foot on its head, Seras pressed down, soon crushing its head under her boot and splattering its blood over her face and clothes, a wide psychotic grin spread over her face. Narrowing his eyes as he grinned towards his little pet, Alucard walked forward silently. "Now your starting to understand what it is to be a Vampire." He stated while watching the girl pant while looking at her right hand with hunger evident in her crimson red eyes.

Leaning down to get a lick of the blood, Seras gasped as a bayonet suddenly sliced through her throat. Grin vanishing completely, Alucard looked on in shock as ten more bayonets then flew into and through the back of the girl, forcing her to the ground. Gritting his teeth, Alucard moved forward and narrowed his eyes on the weapons. "Blessed blades…" He noted before watching as glowing pieces of paper suddenly started flying around the long hallway and attached themselves to the walls with needles seemingly of their own accord.

"A barrier?" Alucard mumbled while turning around, heavy footfalls echoing within the abandoned hallway. Soon enough, Alucard spotted the man the blades had come from, a tall man, at least as tall as he was with glasses blocking a view of the man's eyes thanks to a glare from the light, short pale blond hair with a scruffy beard along his chin and jaw line, deeply tanned skin with a long wide scar present on the left side of his face, he was dressed in a black priests outfit, a large cross hanging from around his neck over his chest, a long pale blue trench coat, with a pair of white gloves with crosses and "Jesus is in heaven" placed on the back of each of his hand, and last was a pair of black combat boots.

Grinning, the man looked towards Alucard and Seras darkly, blood dripping down from a pair of Bayonets in his hands. "We are the servants of god, and the messengers of his justice. We are the instruments of his divine wrath on earth, we are called upon to cleanse this kingdom, bringing ash from the flesh of thyne enemies." The man said with a heavy irish accent before twirling one of his Bayonets into a reverse grip and formed it and his other into a cross shape beside his face, then ground them together, forming sparks that revealed one of his bright green eyes. "Praise to our lord…"

--

(Hellsing HQ…)

Within Sir Integra's office is the woman herself, sitting behind her desk patiently while Walter stands to one side, a man having come before her with news. "Sir, a report from our Vatican intelligence officer." The man said to Integra as she raised a brow and waved for the man to continue. "It reads, 'Our fears confirmed, the Vatican Special Operations, Iscariot, on the move.'" The man replied as Integra cut a piece from one of her cigars before frowning darkly.

"Iscariot, the Vatican's special operations unit. The most powerful agents the Vatican commands. Professional Exorcists. Assassins trained to deal with heathens and heretics. They work under Section XIII, a black operations unit." Integra mused while lacing her fingers together, her cigar still in one hand as she considered what she'd need to do next. "How large a force did they send?" She questioned and the man before her twitched slightly before answering.

"Just one agent was deployed. The Paladin, Father Alexander Anderson." The man replied and Integra's eyes widened considerably, the glare from her glasses concealing it from the man though Walter instantly noticed it.

"Did you say Alexander Anderson?" Integra demanded and the man merely nodded his head while Integra frowned. "God knows what would happen if he were to run into Alucard and the girl…" She mumbled since Naruto and Tira were both Human, Anderson wouldn't have as much of a reason to kill them, though probably still would in the long run… and she hoped Naruto and Tira were intelligent enough not to take on the man themselves. "I'll leave for Badrick immediately. Fetch my gun, my sword, and prepare two bodyguards." Integra ordered the man before her and he gave a curt bow.

"Yes sir." He stated while Integra then turned to look at Walter.

"Walter, I want you to keep working on the Vatican." Integra ordered and Walter nodded his head with a slight smirk.

"Of course sir." He said while turning and making his way out of the room with the other man. Breathing out a sigh, Integra then pinched the bridge of her nose with a deep scowl across her face. _'Section XIII's Paladin, Alexander Anderson and Alucard in the same place… God I hope they haven't started killing each other yet…'_ The woman thought to herself as she felt a migraine start to come on…

--

(Badrick…)

Naruto cursed while ducking on a swing from a Fanatic's claws and then stabbed it with Soul-Blade. Ducking quickly to evade a Prism's sword Naruto twisted onto his hands and spun, knocking several Soulless back before flipping onto his hands and feet. "Just great, dozens of these things just had to show up now of all times didn't they?!" Naruto demanded angrily before pulling Dark-Heart from his back and held both weapons at his eyes as his eyes slowly turned yellow. "Out of my way!" Naruto cried out as he lunged into the fray, swinging his blades into the Soulless wildly, slicing or absorbing those that he did.

Landing in a crouch and turning, Naruto widened his eyes as more Soulless started to appear. _'Note to self, find out where these things are coming from, and destroy it completely…'_ Naruto inwardly growled while his eyes yellow eyes glared at the Soulless darkly, dark pools appearing all over the rood. "Come out." Naruto mumbled as several Neo-Shadows hopped out of the pools and scurried to his sides. Growling in his throat he and the Neo-Shadows then lunged into the fray of Soulless, slicing dicing and clawing their way through them…

Meanwhile back inside Anderson walked forward, towards Alucard with a wide grin stretched across his face as he looked at the Vampire. "Beautiful moon tonight. Don't you think?" Anderson noted and Alucard merely grinned towards the man while Seras struggled to see what was going on, her eyes a brilliant azure blue once more. Groaning in pain the girl closed her eyes while The Paladin chuckled lightly in his throat. "Your voice sounds so very lovely when you're whimpering in agony, Draculina." Anderson noted before looking towards the small orange-ish blond haired girl.

"Don't worry though, your not dieing yet. I haven't pierced your heart." Anderson stated while Seras pushed herself up and turned to look at the strange blond man. "It's been a while since I've had a good hunt. I plan on enjoying this." Anderson stated while Alucard narrowed his eyes onto the priest silently.

"Vatican's special division XIII. The Iscariot Organization." Alucard noted and Seras looked between the man and her master with obvious confusion.

"Right you are, you pathetic Hellsing dogs." Anderson intoned while walking forward, an action that was mirrored by Alucard. "And you must be Alucard, the housebroken Vampire, the Monster who hunts his own kind, the famous Hellsing Family pet abomination." Anderson noted with a grin while he and Alucard slowly walked towards one another, both grinning insanely.

"What happened to the Vampire we were hunting?" Alucard questioned with a slightly amused tone.

"He's dead. Not much fun really. I didn't even have time to enjoy it." Anderson noted and Alucard felt his grin widen further at the man's casual words. The two walked forward, Seras watching on with worry when Anderson and Alucard came to a stop, side by side and both grinning insanely. "It seems you two are the only ones left." Anderson noted while turning his eyes to look towards Alucard.

"Really now?" Alucard questioned as he turned his eyes and looked towards the man as well. Rather than answering him however, Anderson quickly lashed out with his Bayonets instead, rearing them back and throwing them forward before Alucard could take aim with his gun. Stabbing the Vampire in his shoulders Anderson grinned even as Alucard lifted his gun and shot the man point blank in the head, sending him flying back into a wall. Reaching up, Alucard then pulled one of the two Bayonets out of his body before dropping it to the ground.

"You attacked a Vampire head on in the middle of the night… you didn't even try to catch me by surprise." Alucard noted as he tossed the second blade to the ground and shook his head slightly. "You're a brave man father, but you're also a fool." Alucard said mostly to himself while Seras slowly tried to push herself up from the ground.

"M-master…" She managed to get out while looking to the man and he smirked.

"Don't talk. You've been stabbed with a blessed blade." Alucard stated while walking over to the girl. "Now just…" He started to say only for his eyes to widen as he felt something rise up behind him, then heard Anderson chuckle darkly before two blades came from behind him, piercing straight through his body. "W-what?!" Alucard demanded as he grit his teeth, and then widened his eyes when he saw the two Soulless that where standing behind him. Snapping his fingers, Anderson watched on as the Soulless threw Alucard to the side, the ancient Vampire quickly placing a hand down to push himself back into the air while pulling out his gun once more.

Firing the weapon, Alucard hit both the Soulless in their heads and growled slightly when they didn't even seem affected by the attack that would have destroyed a Vampire or Ghoul. Landing in a crouch, the Ancient Vampire watched on as Anderson cracked his neck while looking towards him. "Quite the interesting little creatures aren't they? The do whatever I wan 'em too. Even kill a bunch a ruddy Vampire scum. Don't seem to be many ways to kill 'em neither, short a magic at least." Anderson mused aloud and Alucard frowned while looking at the Soulless darkly.

'_So that's why they've been targeting Vampires… Iscariot must be using them so they won't be caught breaking any treaties with us. And since Anderson and Iscariot's faith is so blind the Soulless must think of them as comrades to the light…'_ Alucard reasoned before quickly lunging forward and slamming his hands through the Soulless, destroying them instantly before rubbing his shoulders when he noted the amount of pain from a Soulless attack was double that of a blessed blade.

"Interesting little pets you have there, but sadly they're no match for a Vampire of my caliber." Alucard stated simply and Anderson grinned widely while nodding his head.

"Aye, true enough, against any Vampire of significant strength they do come out a little short handed…" Anderson agreed before snapping his fingers, two Zealot type Soulless popping into existence beside of him. "But I do have other ways to use these creatures besides just killing inhuman monsters like you…" Anderson stated as the Zealots lunged forward with blinding speed, widening his eyes Alucard ducked under the Souless, only for Anderson to kick him into the air. Twirling around and righting himself, Alucard narrowed his eyes on the man.

Taking aim at Anderson, Alucard started to fire on him, slamming a bullet into his head, shoulder, hip, and leg before firing on his chest and knocking him back to the ground. Landing silently, Alucard ducked under a swing from the two Zealots and then pushed his hands through their chest, destroying both of the Soulless instantly. Frowning, the ancient Vampire then looked back to Anderson, only for his eyes to widen as Anderson got back up with a wide psychotic grin stretched across his face. Moving with unreal speed, Anderson got up and summoned two Prisms to his sides before he lunged towards him at blinding speed.

Grinning widely and chuckling in his throat, Alucard started firing at the man once more; Anderson showing inhuman speed and grace as he evaded the bullets then swung a new pair of Bayonets at Alucard. Moving his gun to block one of the blades while moving around Anderson Alucard swung his free hand, piercing a Soulless and destroying it before he twisted and pierced the second one. Laughing despite himself, Alucard stopped when he was to face forward to Anderson's back, and thenk quickly opened fire on the man once more.

Anderson merely turned and held up his hands as the bullets tore through him, then held his hands to the side, several knives coming from his sleeves and into his hands. Laughing, Anderson threw the weapons forward, light seeming to flow from them as they soared towards Alucard and tore through the hallway. Grinning, Alucard fired his gun, taking down several of the bayonets before he was grabbed by Anderson himself and slammed back into a wall where the man quickly pinned Alucard with Bayonets piercing his hands.

Grinning widely and chuckling as he pulled out two more Bayonets from his coat, Anderson looked at Alucard darkly while the bullets that had been lodged within his body were slowly forced out and the wounds sealed shut behind them almost instantly. "Amen." Anderson stated darkly while Alucard looked at the man with no small amount of surprise.

"A regenerator." Alucard mumbled to himself and Anderson grinned widely.

"Correct. A living weapon engineered by the human race, to defeat vile monsters like you." Anderson stated darkly before rearing his arms back, several more Bayonets flying into his hands before he threw dozens of them into Alucard with a swing of his wrists. The blades tore through Alucard, breaking the glass of the window behind him as they did. Watching on, Seras felt her eyes go wide as Anderson then held up two more Bayonets with a psychotic grin across his face. Grinding them together, Anderson saw Alucard narrow his eyes on him and grinned wider than before. Swinging his arms, Anderson sliced Alucard's head clean from his shoulders, sending the Vampires head flying behind him where it landed with a plop…

"Amen!" Anderson exclaimed loudly while the head hit the ground behind him, Seras looking on in horror.

"M-MASTER!" She called out and Anderson chuckled lightly for a moment before rearing his head back and letting out a loud bellowing psychotic laugh…

Blinking Naruto looked down at the building as he finished off another Soulless, then heard Seras cry and Anderson's laugh. "Dammit, something bad is happening in there… I better head inside and help out big red before Kitten gets hurt." He mumbled before throwing Soul-Blade to the ground and hopped onto it, flying off of the building and heading down its side towards where he hoped Seras was…

"That's it?" Anderson demanded with a laugh while looking at the headless corpse of Alucard incredulously. "This thing was supposed to be Hellsing's ultimate weapon?" The man then demanded before shaking his head slowly. "The great domesticated Vampire. What a disappointment. He's a joke, bloody Protestants screw everything up." Anderson noted before hearing shattering glass as Naruto flew into the room through one of the windows. Shaking his head, the blond teen turned to see the massive man and then widened his eyes as he saw the beheaded Alucard.

"Whoa, someone went the way of Gatou…" Naruto noted since Gatou had been killed in a similar manner. Raising a brow, Anderson watched as the blond teen stood up, a pair of massive key like weapons held in his hands.

"Just who the Hell are you supposed to be then, Lad?" Anderson demanded before blinking when he saw the Hellsing crest on the youths arm. "Oi, bloody hell, the Protestants have a fucking kid fighting their battles for them now too? Does their stupidity never end?" Anderson demanded and Naruto twitched while looking at the man with a clearly un-amused expression.

"I don't care what you say, nor do I care what you think about me, but answer me this. What the hell did you do to Alucard?" Naruto demanded of the man and Anderson chuckled while adjusting his glasses.

"I sent him to hell, where he belongs o course. Now get out of m' way Lad before I do the same to you." Anderson ordered with a grin stretched across his lips and Naruto growled while glaring towards the man furiously.

"And how exactly am I in your way?" Naruto questioned and then noticed a second blood stain to the side and bristled. "Kitten… what the hell did you do to her?" Naruto demanded and the big man chuckled lightly in his throat.

"Kitten eh? Don' know if that was the wee Draculina's name, but I didn't kill her if that's what your asking. Nah, I was saving her for after I dealt with her so-called master. Though he wasn't nearly as entertaining as I'd hoped he'd be." Anderson explained while light hit his glasses and hid his eyes via the glare. Growling, Naruto took a low stance while glaring at the man, and Anderson chuckled. "Alright then, ye Vampire loving little bastard, I'll just have some o me little friends deal wit ye while I deal wit the Draculina." Anderson mused while snapping his fingers a pair of Prism's appearing at his sides only for Naruto to throw his Keyblades and impale both killing them instantly.

Looking to both and whistling as the keyblades returned to the scowling Naruto's hands, Anderson grinned widely. "Oh ho, so ye have a little fight in ye then? Fine then, lets see if your more amusing than your vampire friend was!?" Anderson exclaimed while lunging forward with two bayonets. Narrowing his eyes Naruto fell backwards into a Dark-Corridor to evade the attack then came out behind Anderson with a scowl, black and purple flames gathered in his right hand.

"Good bye freak! Burn in hell!" Naruto exclaimed before he then slammed the fire into the back of Anderson's head, sending him flying back while Naruto landed in a low crouch. "He wasn't so tough…" Naruto mumbled only to widen his eyes as Anderson laughed, then pushed himself up to his feet with a wide psychotic grin as the wound on the back of his head started to heal. "No way…" Naruto mumbled in shock before shaking his head and watching as Anderson turned towards him.

"Oi lad! Not a bad little trick ye got there!" Anderson said while turning to Naruto and threw his hands to the sides, four blades dropping into each of his hands. "But lets see how ye deal wit this then!" Anderson exclaimed before throwing the knives straight for Naruto. Cursing, the blond dropped into another Dark-Corridor to evade the Bayonets before coming up behind Anderson. "That's no gonna work this time Lad!" Anderson exclaimed as he twisted around and grabbed Naruto by the throat and started to squeeze. Grunting lowly, Naruto twisted into a kick to the side of Anderson's head, the metal-capped boots slamming into his head and forcing him to release the blond.

Landing and quickly flipping to his feet, Naruto hit a switch in his boots to unlock a pair of blades from his toes. Lunging forward and lashing out with a roundhouse kick, Anderson backed up before blinking as the blond jumped into a second roundhouse, slicing through the front of his clothes. Landing and then using a low sweeping kick, Naruto knocked Anderson off of his feet before flipping onto his chest. Jumping up, Naruto pointed his toes down to stab the man in his chest before toe walking up his chest and kicking him in the head, sending him flying back as Naruto landed in a low crouch with a deep scowl across his features as he hit the switch in his boots once more, the blades retracting back into them.

Grunting, Naruto looked up and then cursed as he rolled out of the way of a Bayonet heading straight for him. "Where the hell do you keep all these things?" Naruto demanded while looking at the man and Anderson merely pulled two more Bayonets from his coat before lunging forward. Cursing, Naruto threw a bolt of Anti-Lightning and watching it slam into Anderson, sending him flying back. Grunting, the man sat up with a wide psychotic grin as his burnt crispy flesh slowly pealed away before it then healed.

"Oh aye lad! Now this is getting interesting!" Anderson stated before throwing one of his Bayonets towards Naruto. Cursing, the blond rolled out of the way before widening his eyes as Anderson came towards him and stabbed him through his right shoulder with the Bayonet. _'Shit… that really hurts!'_ Naruto thought through gritted teeth before slugging Anderson and pulled the blessed blade from his arm. Panting slightly he watched as Anderson laughed loudly before flipping back onto his feet.

"C'mon now lad, surely that's not all the fight ye got in ye is it?" Anderson questioned and Naruto clenched his fists before slamming a foot into the ground, spikes made from darkness suddenly jutting out from the walls, ceiling, and floor before impaling Anderson from every direction imaginable…

"How's that then… you damn freak." Naruto mumbled before widening his eyes as Anderson laughed once more and then pulled himself out of the mess of spikes, blood flowing out of him rapidly even as his wounds started to heal over. "No way… even I can't heal that fast from something like that happening to me…" Naruto mumbled while Anderson laughed loudly before pulling two more Bayonets from his coat and held them in a cross at his side.

"I haven't had anyone do that to me before lad! C'mon now, the nights still young and the fun has only just started!" Anderson exclaimed as he lunged at the blond haired boy, swinging his Bayonets at him wildly. Cursing, Naruto blocked the weapons with his Keyblades as fast as he could, only to widen his eyes, as Anderson seemed to get faster and faster. _'What the hell is this guy?! No human can move like this, hell, most Shinobi back home can't fight like this freak!!'_ Naruto thought before grunting as one of Anderson's Bayonets cut along the bridge of his nose, making a slice in the same spot as his old Sensei Iruka.

Flipping back and away from Anderson, Naruto panted while the tall blond man grinned psychotically while looking at the youth. "Come now!? Is that really the best you got Lad? I'm only just getting warmed up!" Anderson demanded then exclaimed while Naruto felt his eyes go wide as Anderson rushed forward throwing a Bayonet forward. Cursing Naruto moved to the side, the weapon slicing along the side of his face and clipping his ear. Looking back to Anderson Naruto grunted as he blocked a slash from the man and then swung upwards. Anderson merely flipped one of his blades in hand and then quickly slashed upwards, slicing one of Naruto's eyes in the process.

Growling, the blond haired youth swung Soul-Blade at Anderson but the man quickly blocked with one blade before bringing his other Bayonet down on top of him. Grunting in his throat and gritting his teeth, Naruto blocked with Dark heart while glaring at the man furiously. "I really don't like you…" Naruto growled out before he then twisted on his heel and kicked Anderson in the solar plexus. Twirling around from his momentum the blond then twisted his Keyblades in hand while taking a quick stance. Sliding to a halt, Anderson lunged forward once more, grinning widely as he swung one of his Bayonets down at Naruto.

Blocking with both of his Keyblades Naruto then fell into a Dark-Corridor, causing Anderson to fall forward as Naruto appeared behind him. Lashing out Naruto swung Dark-Heart into the man's side, slicing through his coat and sending him flying into the wall at the side. Landing on his side with a grunt, Naruto then panted and groaned as he saw Anderson roll out of the wall, still grinning widely. "Oi… why couldn't he just be a Vampire and not some kind of immortal circus freak?" Naruto wondered while Anderson climbed to his feet and spat out a bit of blood.

Rearing back his head and laughing, Anderson then shook his head as he looked down at Naruto with a wide grin. "Not bad lad, a few more years of experience and ye may even pose somewhat of a threat, too bad ye had to attack me now though." Anderson mused before he held up several of his Bayonets and threw them at the blond once more. Cursing under his breath, Naruto quickly rolled into a Dark-Corridor and came out beside of Alucards corpse.

"Ugh… of all places I could've landed this was not the one I wanted…" The blond mumbled before looking up at a chuckle as Anderson turned his wide green eyes towards him. "Really not the one I wanted…" He mumbled under his breath before reaching up and pulling himself back to his feet. Grinning, Anderson dropped four blades into each of his hands once more and Naruto's eyes widened.

"Oh not this shit again!" Naruto exclaimed as the hunter threw his Bayonets straight for the blond. Mentally cursing as he opened a Corridor of Darkness behind himself, the blond screamed out in pain as two of the Bayonets got him as he fell through, one sticking out of his right shoulder and the other piercing through his waist at his side.

Grinning despite himself, Anderson waited for the blond to reappear, then clicked his tongue and straightened his back when he didn't. "Must've run off to find the little Draculina. Loyal to a fault and brave beyond measure, he woulda been smart to follow the good lord rather than those heathens in Hellsing. But what's done is done I suppose…" Anderson noted to himself as he turned on his heel, grinning as he made his way after the said little Draculina…

Seras herself walked down the halls of the hospital with panting breaths, her master's head tucked under one arm. Her vision blurred the girl reached back and grit her teeth as she took hold of the silver blessed blade in her back. Hand burning the girl pulled it from her back and then dropped it to the ground. Panting heavily as she leaned heavily into a wall, the blond girl blinked as a black oval shaped shadow appeared and a heavily injured Naruto fell through, two bayonets sticking out of his body.

"Oh god not you too…" Seras mumbled before pushing off of the wall and trudged her way over to the blond as he spat up blood then gasped for air. Grunting, the blond reached to the Bayonet in his side before pulling it out and panting heavily. Falling to her knees, Seras pulled the other blade out of the blond boy for him. "You were the one keeping him busy?" She asked and Naruto managed a strained grin before grunting in pain as he rolled onto his stomach and tried to push himself up.

"I… I need some help here…" The blond muttered and Seras nodded while pulling one of his arms over her shoulders and lifted him up with her. Helping him over to the side, Seras leaned against a wall with the injured blond as he coughed up more blood while panting heavily. "Shit… my wounds aren't healing… something about those damn weapons of his must be screwing my body up…" Naruto mumbled to himself while Seras wondered, not for the first time either, if the blond was some kind of Vampire that didn't need to drink blood to survive.

Panting as well, Seras turned her own eyes to the head of her master and then closed them slowly. _'Master… please, I can't do this. I can't do this alone…'_ Seras thought while bringing the head closer to herself, only to gasp as a Bayonet came from behind them and sliced into the head, soon pinning it to a wall. Turning her wide eyes as Naruto narrowed his only open one, the two saw Anderson walk towards them, a pair of his Bayonets shining in the light.

"Where do you think you two are going? There's no place to run." Anderson stated as he walked ever closer to them, grinning insanely as he got closer and closer to them. "Ashes to Ashes. Dust to Dust. We are nothing more than Dust. And to the Dust we shall return." Anderson stated, as he got closer to the two, his grin threatening to split his face open. "Amen." Anderson finished as Seras looked at the man with wide eyes.

'_I have to get out of here, I have to escape, I have to get to Sir Integra!'_ She told herself as she looked at Anderson as he continued to get closer to them. Hearing a grunt, Seras watched as Naruto pushed away from her, then slowly trudged forward to stand between her and Anderson, arms outspread.

"Alright freak show… if you want her… you'll go through me…" Naruto said while trying to control his breathing and Anderson stopped to look at the boy before letting out a loud laugh.

"Aye lad, now that's courage even in the face o death if I've ever seen it. A few a me boys back home could learn a thing or two from ye. It's just too bad ye are working with that lowly Hellsing scum." Anderson noted as he started to walk forward once more, Naruto turning his head and looking to Seras with his good eye.

"Listen… I'll hold him off for as long as I can… get moving Kitten." Naruto ordered and Seras looked at the blond haired teen incredulously.

"A-are you mad? You'll be crucified if I leave you here alone!" She stated and Naruto blinked, seeing as that wasn't very likely given that the man was a priest.

"Not crucified… killed or maimed horribly most likely… but I don't think this guy is to into crucifixion…" Naruto quipped with a weak grin and Seras looked back to Anderson as he continued to get closer and closer to them.

"How can you joke around about death like that?!" Seras demanded and Naruto chuckled lightly in his throat, his hair shadowing his eyes.

"I've faced death too many times before I suppose. I've always managed to cheat it… I've never given up in the face of death, especially not when my friends are in danger. I'd rather die than allow any of my friends to be slaughtered by someone like him!" Naruto stated while Seras stared at him for a moment, and the blond turned to her once more. "Now get a move on… and get out of here before this guy kills you too…" Naruto ordered and Seras blinked before slowly nodding her head as she crawled away, Naruto turning back to Anderson with a smirk.

"Oi ye are a good lad, boyo. Not many are so ready to fight and most likely die for the lives of others so easily, specially not when their inhuman monsters like that girl." Anderson noted, his grin having shrunk to a slight smirk while crossing his swords before the blond. Raising a brow at Anderson's words Naruto chuckled slightly before narrowing his eye onto the man.

"Her name… is Seras Victoria. And regardless of what she is… or isn't. She's my comrade. And my old teacher used to tell me, those that abandon the mission are trash… but those who abandon their comrades are even worse than trash." Naruto grunted out while glaring at Anderson heatedly, the man grinning as a chuckle reverberated through his body. Lunging forward a second later he stabbed Naruto in the shoulders and forced him down to his knees while Seras reached out for the window only to yelp as something shocked her.

"What is this? I can't get through!" She wondered while Naruto's eyes widened and Anderson laughed in his throat.

"That is a Spiritual Barrier, Lass. It's impossible for any vampiric creatures such as yourself to penetrate it. Meaning your little human friend here can't do anything but prolong the inevitable." Anderson said before twisting his Bayonets and throwing Naruto to the side. "Now settle down so I can slaughter you, you god damned monster." Anderson stated darkly only for Naruto to lunge forward and grab one of his legs. "You really need to learn when to just give up and die, Lad." Anderson noted while Naruto glared up at him furiously.

"Shut up… I won't ever give up or surrender to bastards like you." Naruto growled out and Anderson snorted before throwing Naruto up with a kick and then kicked the blond up into the roof before he fell and slammed into the floor. Grunting as he hit the ground, Naruto coughed up some blood as one of the rings on his right hand suddenly glowing with a strange green light. _**"You have awakened the Dark Magic of Regeneration…"**_ A familiar voice echoed in Naruto's mind as he slowly opened a pair of golden yellow eyes while Anderson stepped over him and made his way towards Seras…

"Now that that's out of the way, where were we?" Anderson wondered as he turned back to Seras as she backed up slowly.

'_H-he's going to kill me, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, Oh God! I'm going to die!'_ Seras thought to herself with wide eyes before hearing a familiar voice echo in her mind moments later. _**"This is no time to lose your head, Police-Girl."**_ Alucard's voice echoed and the blond girl turned to see her master's head. "Master…" She mumbled then gasped as his head started to melt into blood, running along the wall before hitting the floor. Once it hit, Seras watched as the blood started to snake out around the floor, slowly scrawling out a message for the girl as the voice in her mind echoed it.

"_**Drink my blood, Police Girl. Drink and you shall never again be treated like a slave. Drink, and you shall truly become one of us, you will drink blood of your own choosing, wandering the night, powerful and singular. Become eternal and complete!"**_ Alucard's message on the floor and in her mind echoed out as Seras read on, her eyes turning a familiar crimson red, as Anderson came ever closer to her. _**"Drink my blood, Police-Girl… no… Seras Victoria!"**_ Alucard finally exclaimed and Seras looked on, her eyes slowly returning to their naturally bright azure blue while Anderson's shadowed loomed behind her.

"It's over." Anderson stated ominously while raising his blades when the girl turned towards him. Preparing to strike the man was disappointed when his Bayonets were suddenly shot to pieces by Sir-Integra, now dressed in a green military officers uniform with a long trench coat thrown over her shoulders, a sword sheathed at one hip.

"That girl belongs to me. What business do you have being here? Paladin of Iscariot, Father Alexander Anderson." Integra questioned of the man while lowering her gun and Anderson sneered.

"Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing…" Anderson noted with a deep frown and the woman smirked slightly while her Bodyguards stood slightly behind her. "To what do I owe the honor of such a personal appearance?" Anderson wondered while Integra noted Seras and frowned when she didn't see Alucard anywhere.

"Enough Father Anderson. This is a violation of our agreement; the situation here is under our control. Withdraw immediately, neither Iscariot nor the Hellsing Organization can afford this kind of battle. I don't care who you think you are, this act of aggression ends now." Integra stated and Anderson twitched as he glared at the woman.

"Withdraw? Is that an order?" He asked with a grin as a Bayonet fell into each of his open hands once more. "You expect the Iscariot Organization, Gods chosen instrument of judgment to just, Withdraw on your order?" Anderson demanded while tilting his head as he looked at the woman. "Did you really expect me to go screaming in fear from a filthy protestant whore?" He demanded before quickly lunging forward, Integra's bodyguards quickly moving to protect her and firing on the man only for him to mercilessly cut them to pieces.

Moving quickly, Integra unsheathed her own blade and caught Anderson's as he pressed her back against one of the walls. "An artificially bio-engineered regenerator agent… and they've upgraded your healing. You're a thing." Integra noted and Anderson grinned wider than ever, as he got closer to the woman.

"Perhaps, but your nothing but weak, your worthless!" Anderson stated while Integra scowled up at him, eyes narrowed dangerously. "And as for that pet Vampire you love to parade around so much. You just missed his decapitation!" The man stated and Integra blinked before looking at the man half with clear amusement in her eyes.

"You cut his head off? Is that all?" Integra questioned much to Anderson's complete surprise.

"What?" He demanded only to grunt as a fist connected with his face and sent him flying away from Integra. The man then skidded along the wood for a moment before righting himself and landing in a low crouch. "Now what have we here then?" Anderson wondered, as Naruto stood in his Red Seeker armor, panting with his body twitching, just itching to silence the freak at last.

_[Bastard circus freak, do you know how much it hurts having someone shove those damn bayonets in them? If not, then I intend to show you through example!]_ Naruto growled out while Anderson raised a brow as he looked at the red armored seeker. Placing a hand on the blond haired boy's shoulder, Integra moved to stand beside of him while smirking towards Anderson, Seras slowly rising to her feet to stand with Naruto and Integra, wishing she had her gone with her.

"It's not looking good for you, Father Anderson. If I was you, I'd leave while I was still able." Integra stated simply and Anderson scoffed while rising back to his feet and pulled another pair of Bayonets from his coat.

_[Seriously, where does he keep all these fucking Bayonets?]_ Naruto demanded while shaking his head and Integra had to wonder the same thing considering he didn't really have anywhere to put them all.

"Have you gone insane? I'm about to paint the walls wit you three." Anderson stated while ignoring Naruto's question and Integra smirked once more.

"Really? Well then you better make it quick. That Vampire you decapitated will be coming back to life any second now." Integra stated and saw a confused expression spread over Anderson's features.

"He'll what?" He wondered while a Bat flew passed him and over to Seras, who blinked upon seeing the ebony black creature.

"_**Why didn't you just drink the blood you idiot?"**_ The voice of Alucard questioned of the girl before hundreds of bats burst through the window beside of her, and then started to fly all around Anderson. Grunting, the man started swinging his Bayonets through the Bats, growling when he wasn't able to kill any of them.

"Cut off his head, pierced his heart, he is nothing like any Vampire you have ever known. Your tricks won't kill him." Integra stated with a grin crossing her features as she watched Anderson's futile struggle with the bats. "You may be the fruit of the finest anti-Vampire Technologies. But a hundred years of the Hellsing Families occult knowledge produced this achievement!" Integra explained as the bats suddenly started swirling before her and a surprised Naruto. "Our crowned glory, The Vampire Alucard!" Integra stated as the bats soon took on Alucard's shape, and the Ancient Vampire then reared his head back before letting out a maniacal laugh.

"Master!" Seras said happily while Naruto twitched as he looked on as more bats flew into Alucard, reproducing his coat as he pulled out his gun. _'Holy shit… and I thought that Anderson guy was a freak of nature… Alucard takes the cake, candles, and the whole fucking party.'_ Naruto thought to himself while Alucard and Anderson lunged at one another, both landing before Alucard's arms fell from his body. Turning to look at his handiwork with a grin, Anderson's grin turned to shock as he watched Alucard regenerate his limbs within seconds.

"I think your finally beginning to understand. What will you do now, Anderson?" Sir-Integra questioned of the blond man Alucard grinning insanely as the Paladin tilted his head to one side.

"I'll leave. I need further preparation to kill this one." Anderson stated while reaching into his coat to remove a bible. Holding the book out the man then placed his hand on top of it and the book flew open, its pages turning from a non-existent wind. "We'll meet again Hellsing." Anderson stated as pages from the book started flowing out and wrapping around his form. "Next time, I'll butcher you all…" He added as an afterthought before the pages dispersed and flew out of a nearby window, the man vanishing with them…

_[All right, how'd he do that? Seriously? Since when do religious fruitcakes like him know how to do this kind of shit?]_ Naruto demanded and Seras nodded her head in agreement with the blond haired boy. Behind them, Sir-Integra lit a cigar and turned to face Alucard as he put his gun away.

"Are you alright, Alucard?" She asked and Alucard smirked slightly.

"Yes, it's been a while since I've had my head cut off. And now we've finally met father Anderson from Iscariot… and learned they are using the Soulless as their tools." Alucard noted and Integra walked over to her servant silently.

"They have violated our agreements, attacked without provocation, and killed two of my men. The Vatican will pay dearly for this." Integra stated before turning one eye to one of Anderson's blessed blades and narrowed her eyes. "However, they are not our priority. There is a shadow organization responsible for this recent increase in Vampire attacks." Integra stated while Alucard grinned widely.

"Then what are my orders, Master? Shall I destroy them? Wipe them from the Earth? Grind them to dust? Just give the word my master, Sir Integra Hellsing." He questioned eagerly and the woman looked to him with an amused smirk across her lips.

"When the time has come, I will." She assured and Alucard's eyes fell slightly.

"Really? I can't wait, it'll be a pleasure, a truly great pleasure." Alucard mused before turning and walking over to Seras. "You." He stated and the girl turned to look up at him, Naruto crossing his arms over his chest as he did. "Why didn't you drink the blood?" The man questioned with his ever-present Cheshire cat grin and the girl was silent while looking at her master. "Why not drink?" The man asked once more and Seras' eyes fell as she looked to his boots.

"Um… I'm not sure, but it felt like… it felt like if I drank the blood, it would mean the end of something important inside of me." Seras admitted and Alucard mentally scoffed as he looked down at his servant.

"You are an idiot." He stated and turned his back to the girl, Naruto scowling as he watched him walk away. "But perhaps you have a point, perhaps it is time for a Vampire who does not walk alone through the night." The ancient Vampire mused to himself while Naruto blinked and Seras looked at his back in surprise before smiling. As Alucard walked down the hall, he stopped when he felt Sir-Integra's eyes on him and smirked towards her.

"Why on earth did you turn her into a Vampire?" The woman questioned and Alucard's smirk widened slightly.

"Why indeed. For fun? For sport? Maybe it was just a whim. Maybe, but that doesn't sound like me. Perhaps after years spent with humans you've finally rubbed off on me. I might be developing a sense of whimsy." Alucard mused before walking off once more and Integra shook her head. With Seras and Naruto, the blond girl looked to the armor-clad boy warily before crossing her arms with a slight blush.

"Uh, I'd like to say, thank you for holding off Anderson so I could get away. And sorry for being so rude last night…" Seras mumbled and Naruto tilted his head to one side before smirking slightly.

_[It's no problem… Kitten.]_ Naruto said with an amused smirk as Seras gave him a glare while also blushing slightly.

"Oh… your impossible I swear!" The girl then exclaimed while crossing her arms and Alucard laughed to himself.

"Oh yes, Naruto, I need to advise you to better control your servant in the future. She was only an inch from cutting my head off after I landed and barely managed to stop before she would have taken my head off." Integra advised casually and Naruto slapped his helmeted head with a groan.

_[Speaking of which, where is she anyways?]_ Naruto wondered only to be tackled by the brunette from behind. _[oh… there she is…]_ He mumbled while Seras giggled into one of her hands at the sight.

"Master! I had so much fun today, do you think we can do it again soon?" Tira exclaimed then asked while sounding like the proverbial kid in a candy store.

_[Alucard my offer for a trade still stands…]_ Naruto suddenly intoned while leaning into one of his fists and Alucard turned his head and smirked at the sight of Tira straddling her Master's back.

"While I can't say she wouldn't make a perfect Vampire, she's just too kill crazed to be anything but another bit of trash like the FREAK Chipped copies we've been dealing with." Alucard stated and Seras blinked while looking between the two.

"What on earth are you too talking about?" She wondered while Naruto suddenly pulled himself to his feet, Tira rolling backwards into a crouch before standing up with a wide grin across her face. "Bloody hell… how does she manage to do that with that huge ring of hers over her shoulder?" Seras wondered while Integra rubbed her chin as she looked at Naruto with a frown.

"Agent Umbra, what exactly is that you're wearing?" She questioned and watched Seras poke Naruto's shoulder before shivering in what appeared to be disgust, confirming to her that it was very much biological in nature.

_[This is Dark-Armor, another power of being a Seeker of Darkness, I'm not actually sure how to activate it on my own yet, it just sort of comes and goes at the moment…]_ Naruto explained with a dismissive wave and Integra frowned while looking at the black glass over his face.

"Do you mind doing away with the helmet? I'd much rather talk to you face to face." She stated and Naruto frowned before concentrating on the black glass the covered his face. Seras then yelped as it started to melt away with a yellow glow, revealing Naruto's normal features, save that his eyes were now a bright golden yellow, and that he now had metal armor wrapping around his lower jaw and the back of his head.

"This better?" The blond asked and Integra nodded her head slowly before narrowing her eyes.

"What happened to your eyes?" She asked while Seras looked into his eyes and shivered, Tira grinning devilishly since they looked similar to the eyes of Nightmare.

"Darkness. It stains the heart and it will slowly change your eye color when it does." Naruto explained with a shrug and Integra nodded her head before looking over to Alucard, the man chuckling as he turned his back to them.

"Let's go Police-Girl, don't dawdle." Alucard suddenly ordered while walking off and Seras turned her head and smiled towards her master once more.

"Yes sir, My Master!" She stated before rushing after the man while Integra walked over to Naruto and Tira as they watched the scene with amusement. "But you see sir, my names not Police-Girl, it's Seras Victoria sir." Seras said as she tried to catch up to the man and he turned his head to look at her with a grin.

"Enough. You coward, you are a Police-Girl, Police-Girl will do." The man insisted and Naruto couldn't help an amused chuckle at Seras expense.

"But… you're mean." Seras mumbled as she looked at the older Vampire as he started walking away from her again. "Master!" She called out as she chased after the red clad Vampire and Naruto looked to an amused Integra.

"That's quite a thing for him to say…" The woman mused before reaching up to take his Cigar from her lips. "Just what I'd expect from The King of Vampires. Or a count." The woman said then mused as an afterthought, Naruto raising a brow at the last tidbit of information. "Now then Agent Umbra, I'd like to congratulate you. You've just survived a run in with The Paladin of Iscariot himself, the best the Light of my world has to offer." Integra stated while Tira looked around and suddenly pouted.

"Aw, it looks like I missed all the fun…" She muttered and Naruto rolled his eyes while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Thank you maim." Naruto said with a slight bow of his head and Integra returned her cigar to her lips.

"Don't mistake me Agent Umbra, you're a bloody fool for even taking the man on in the first place. If you weren't as resilient as you are I'd imagine you'd be scattered across the building…" Integra stated and Naruto's face fell while Tira had to restrain herself from attacking the woman viciously. "However, given the circumstances I feel you need to be commended. Its rare to find anyone with the bravery to face almost certain death head on like you just did." Integra then said and Naruto scratched the length of his nose before looking over to the side as a Dark-Corridor suddenly opened.

"Looks like its time for me to go." Naruto mused and Tira grinned widely.

"Yes! A new world means new souls and even more people to slaughter!" Tira said happily while Naruto and Integra just stared at her for a moment.

"I'll be sure to inform Seras and Alucard of your departure then. Try not to get into too much trouble while your away Agent Umbra." Integra stated while smirking and the boy grinned despite himself.

"You know me maim… that's pretty much impossible." Naruto stated before jumping into the Dark-Corridor, Tira giving a wave as she then followed after him with a laugh. Shaking her head at the sight, Sir-Integra turned around and made her way out of the building as well…

--

TBC…

--

AN: Integra calls Naruto "Agent Umbra" Umbra is Latin and it means "Shade or Shadow" since his powers deal with darkness this seemed like a good codename to give him…


	20. A Forgotten Past

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 19**_: _**A Forgotten Past**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Twilight Town…)

Naruto grunted as he awoke, then reached a hand up to his head and felt his eyes bolt open when he found an odd fleshy substance come into contact with his face. Looking to his hand, Naruto held it up and frowned seeing his Dark-Armor hadn't retreated into his body this time. "Not sure if I should be happy or annoyed…" Naruto mumbled to himself before pushing himself up to his feet and flexed his fingers while moving his arms around. Now that he thought about it, he'd never actually tested the full flexibility of his Dark-Armor, though given how short it was when it stayed out and how he was normally fighting someone in the midst of battle, that wasn't so surprising.

Turning around, Naruto spotted an unconscious Tira and shook his head, guessing the girl wasn't used to World-Hopping yet. _'I guess all this time I've been passing out and waking up did pay off, I'm starting to wake up faster if this is of any indication. Soon enough I might not pass out at all.'_ Naruto mused to himself before looking down at his body and leaned back as far as he could go, surprised when he didn't feel any strain or resistance from the material that made up his biological suit of armor.

Licking his lips, Naruto then twisted around slightly with his arms spread, the suit once more following his movements without resistance or strain. "Okay… maybe something a little more complicated." Naruto mumbled while moving his hands straight up, bent backwards and placed his hands to the ground, groaning slightly as his own muscles protested while the suit continued to bend and move fine. "Alright, it's durable, flexible, and incredibly light." Naruto mused while righting himself with a sigh of relief and then looked around.

Seeing he was in a forest, Naruto wondered which one before stopping when he saw the old mansion. _'Must be Twilight-Town then, maybe I should visit Hayner and the gang while I'm still here.'_ Naruto mused to himself before looking at the old mansion once more, then grimaced as a memory suddenly assaulted his mind. Falling to his knees Naruto brought his hands to his head as the almost vision like memories played out before his minds eye…

--

(??)

_A boy walked down an old path, his metallic shoes crunching against rocks and crushing grass beneath him. Looking to his hands his vision blurred while he pulled some armor from his left shoulder. The magical metal clanked to the ground behind him while the boy looked around, confused and utterly scared. Removing an X shaped pair of bands with an odd silver buckle at the center he watched as they fell from his hands and hit the ground with a soft plop. Shrugging off a small black and white jacket the boy groaned lightly, flashes of memories playing across his mind before fading into darkness as a voice echoed in his head tauntingly._

_Undoing and then throwing off a grey vest the boy stopped to lean against a tree, memories of a blue haired girl and a brown haired man playing before his eyes. Two names seemed to accompany them, left on the tip of his tongue yet lost all the same. Two more figures then appeared, leaving a feeling of fear and anger within the pit of his stomach, the first was a bald old man with a goatee and bright golden yellow eyes; the second had spiky black hair and bright golden yellow eyes as well. Struggling, the boy grasped his head with both hands, pain assaulting his mind as he tried to make sense of_ _the jumble that was his memories._

"_Terra… Aqua… Xehanort… Vanitas…" The youth whispered before falling to his knees, those memories fading away into darkness as well. Pushing himself back to his feet, the boy reached under his arms to undo some clasps; releasing some silver and gold waist armor he'd been wearing, severely lightening his load as he did. Spotting what looked like a mansion up ahead, the boy placed a hand onto a tree and wandered ever closer to it, more memories passing before his minds eye._

"_Mickey… Donald… Goofy… Master Erauqse… what's happening to me?" The youth wondered as his memories faded into Darkness once more, leaving him with an empty feeling as he came to the gates of the old mansion. Leaning his body into the gate heavily, the youth felt his vision blur once more before he slowly slid down the length of the wall before the mansion and fell into a sitting position. "What was I doing… where was I going?" He wondered as his memories continued to fade away._

"_Who am I?" He finally questioned while looking to the sky and yet received no answer even as storm clouds gathered above him, threatening to spill out and soak him to the bone. Someone then approached the youth from the side and a single eye turned to the unnamed person as he looked at the youth and gave a kind smile._

"_You've been through a great ordeal child. You've lost both your heart and mind yet you're still able to walk forward…" The man whispered and the youth gave him a confused look. "No. Don't think. Don't talk. Don't even move. Just fall back into Darkness, and sleep. The light will awaken you when you are ready to be reborn." The person said and yet the youth couldn't discern any of his features through his blurred vision. "From Sleep all things are born… yes, even you. So, return to sleep, and be born anew, Ventus." The man whispered softly as the youth slowly closed his eyes, soon falling into a deep sleep…_

_Seconds afterwards he felt himself fall into water before floating downwards into and through it, Darkness surrounding him on all sides. Opening his eyes the youth looked down and saw a boy with black hair and yellow eyes look up at him. Falling through him the youth found himself sitting on a beach somewhere. Standing on his right side and looking out to sea was a brown haired man, one hand on his hip. Blinking when he felt a hand take his own, the youth looked to his left to see a blue haired girl smiling towards him before looking back out to sea once more._

_Blinking, the youth watched the brown haired man suddenly walk passed him, into the water. Standing up with the blue haired girl, the youth watched as the man turned around, his skin turning a very dark tan as his hair turned silver, eyes now a bright golden yellow. Smirking, the now silver haired man held out a hand to the youth, as if inviting him. Lunging forward, the youth reached out for his friend, only for both to fall into the water. Feeling a hand on his left wrist the youth turned to see the girl had hold of him, then turned to reach out for the man once more as he fell further and further into the waters…_

_Looking back to the girl for a moment, he saw her eyes widen as he pulled himself free of her hold. Falling further into the water, deeper into the darkness around him he reached out for the man. Only he was no longer anywhere to be seen. Closing his eyes as he fell through the water, the youth allowed himself to float and turn through the water. Feeling bubbles rush up along his skin the youth opened his eyes, as he turned around in mid-fall, soon coming upon a glowing white platform of some kind. Touching down, the youth looked around for a moment before feathers suddenly began to float up from the platform, the youth using his arms to block them as they passed._

_Moving his arms from his face as the feathers passed, the youth widened his eyes as he saw a broken scene below him, before it suddenly shattered completely. Feeling his body fall through it, he felt his eyes slowly close once more as he fell further and further into Darkness once more. Drifting and swaying as he fell further and further into Darkness, the youth felt memories start to fade, and then when sleep finally claimed him, he heard the man's voice echo in his mind…_

"_All things are born from Sleep… Ventus… yes, even you. Now sleep once more, and be born anew…"_

--

Naruto panted lightly as he came out of the memories, eyes wide before shaking his head and slowly rising up to his feet. Looking to the sky above, the teen placed a hand over his face for a moment, trying desperately to control his breathing. "What was that just now?" He wondered to himself before sighing and walking over to Tira, lifting her up he through her over one shoulder effortlessly before turning and made his way towards Twilight Town proper, and away from the old mansion.

Walking into the Tram Common on Market Street, Naruto looked around before sighing. "Now then, where would those three be at this time in the afternoon?" He wondered to himself before scratching the length of his nose with a thoughtful expression across his features. "The Usual Place? Nah, Hayner would've thought of something to do by now…" Naruto mused to himself before stopping when he felt a presence, no, two presences behind him. Turning around the blond haired boy spotted a red haired man and a blond girl, each dressed in the same outfit as the old man he'd seen before…

"Roxas?" Axel questioned while looking at the blond and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"No, though I've got to admit a few people have mistakenly called me that before. My name is Naruto." Naruto explained with a slight smirk, Axel looking slightly dejected for a moment before Larxene walked over to the blond.

"Say, I've seen that kind of armor before…" She mumbled and Naruto looked at her with a raised brow.

"Really? That's interesting… and speaking of clothes, why are you two dressed like that old man?" Naruto asked while looking between the two and Axel rubbed his chin for a moment.

"Old man? About yeah tall, bent over, kind of ungodly powerful?" Axel questioned and a slight smile crossed over Naruto's features.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Naruto admitted as his smile slowly turned to an amused grin and Larxene snorted.

"The old guy resurrected us to help some kid out, I'm guessing its you since you know him." Larxene explained and then growled as Axel placed an arm on one of her shoulders and grinned down at Naruto.

"Right, my name is AXEL, Got it memorized?" The man offered with a grin and Naruto raised a brow as he looked at the man.

"Is saying that really necessary?" Naruto asked and Axel blinked, remembering someone else who asked him that once. _'Roxas…'_ He thought while rubbing his chin with a thoughtful expression, and then smirked while walking over to the blond.

"No… but I like to say it anyways." Axel mused with a strange smile across his features as he patted Naruto's shoulder then placed an arm over his shoulder. "Say, who's the babe?" Axel then asked while looking to Tira and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Her name is Tira, but she's also completely insane." Naruto offered and Axel rubbed his chin before nodding his head. "And speaking of babes, who's this lovely lady you have with you?" Naruto asked while motioning over to Larxene who smirked at the compliment.

"She's insane too. But I like to call her Larxene?" Axel offered the blond with a grin Larxene's eyes flaring dangerously as she glared at the two.

"Why you lousy red haired bastard!" Larxene started while throwing her arms to the sides, lightning arching down them before her knives appeared between her fingers, Axel and Naruto both looking to one another.

"Run?" Naruto asked and Axel nodded his head.

"Run!" He exclaimed while rushing off, Naruto following and yelping as bolts of lightning and knives came flying towards them.

"Axel! Get back here and hold still so I can skewer you!" Larxene shouted angrily and Naruto turned to look at the spiky haired man incredulously.

"Did you have to piss her off?" Naruto demanded and Axel just grinned.

"Nah, but it sure was fun!" Axel called out as they then dodged a pair of lightning coated knives. "Okay, enough with all the talking, more with the running!" Axel then stated, as he couldn't help a grin, Naruto shaking his head before following after the man… _'Something… feels different. It's almost, familiar somehow, maybe I know these two from somewhere.'_ Naruto thought to himself as he felt his eyes returned to their original azure blue while he followed Axel. Hearing a groan, the two looked to see Tira waking up before she shook her head and blinked as she looked around.

"Master, what are we running from?" She asked seriously then ducked her head down when a knife very nearly got her between the eyes.

"Master?" Axel questioned as he looked to the blond with a raised brow and amused smirk, blinking and then grinning when he saw a pair of familiar blue eyes and Naruto groaned in his throat.

"I'll explain later, and we're running from a very pissed off blond girl Tira!" Naruto told Axel first then Tira and the brunette looked at the said pissed off blond girl as she suddenly vanished.

"Master, can she teleport?" Tira questioned and Naruto snapped his head over to Axel who suddenly paled dramatically.

"Oh shit I knew I forgot about something!" Axel said mostly to himself as Larxene appeared before them, grinning like a maniac before lunging at Axel, Naruto staying out of the way as she mercilessly beat the red haired Nobody…

"Master, I like this girl! She's fun!" Tira exclaimed happily as she sat up on Naruto's shoulder, the blond blinking before shaking his head as Tira watched on as Larxene beat Axel to within an inch of his life…

--

(Later…)

Axel groaned while sitting on the clock tower, a couple bandages now placed over his face while Naruto sat beside him, Tira on his other side with Larxene beside Tira, her arms crossed over her chest. "Man Larxene, did you really have to be so violent?" Axel wondered and Larxene huffed and turned her head from him.

"You two certainly are something else." Naruto said with a shake of his head while Tira was happily munching on some Sea-Salt Icecream.

"Mmm… Master I like this stuff… what's it called again?" Tira asked and Naruto rolled his eyes while Axel looked at the girl incredulously.

"It's just ice-cream, didn't they have it back on your world?" He asked the girl and she shook her head while happily munching on the treat. Sighing, Axel then pulled out three more popsicles of the ice cream and handed two to Naruto, the blond then handing one over to Larxene. As the four were just sitting on the Clock tower and munching on Ice Cream, Naruto closed his eyes as a few vague memories of a similar situation passed before his minds eye…

"Almost makes me wish Xion was here to enjoy this with us. Don't you think, Axel?" Naruto asked with a voice that wasn't his own and the red haired man looked to him before giving a weak smile and nodded his head.

"Yeah, then it'd be just like old times… though with some extra company." The man mused aloud and Naruto reached behind his back and grasped, only mildly surprised when his hand took hold of something solid. Pulling the charm he'd gotten from Xion's Absent Silhouette from behind his back, Naruto held it up and looked at it silently. "What's that?" Axel asked curiously and Naruto closed his eyes for a moment.

"Just pieces of whatever's left of Xion…" Naruto whispered and Axel reached out to take hold of the object, flashes of memory passing before his eyes, all of them about his female friend…

"Oh. Is that all?" Axel mumbled while handing the charm back to Naruto and Larxene twitched visibly.

"Would you both stop being so depressed already, it's starting to get on my nerves." She grumbled while Tira seemed oblivious to the world around her as she continued to munch on her ice cream happily.

"I hate to say it, but I kind of want to agree with her. Being depressed never solved anything anyways. Besides, someone said if I could find a body for her, I could revive Xion as a real person." Naruto said then mused and Axel snapped his head to the boy, and then smirked as he looked to the setting sun.

"True… and when you get her back I'll be able to have one of my friends back at least." Axel mused to himself before looking back to the setting sun and then placed an arm over Naruto's shoulders. "Say, I bet you don't know why the sun sets red." Axel mused while turning to see a look on Naruto's face. "You see, light is made up of lots of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest." Axel explained and Naruto shook his head while pushing Axel off of himself.

"Like I even asked." Naruto said with a shake of his head and Larxene snorted before she decided to add in her own two cents.

"Yeah Know-It-All, shut up and just enjoy your ice-cream." Larxene ordered while taking another bite out of her own while Axel let out a light chuckle. Munching on their ice cream, Axel suddenly snapped his fingers before he reached into his cloak, soon producing "Gears of Madness" and handing it over to Naruto.

"Here, the old man wanted you to have this." Axel explained while Naruto took the weapon in one hand and looked it over.

"It kind of looks like Dark-Soldier… only different as well." Naruto noted before twirling the blade for a bit and then putting it behind his back, the blade vanishing into the shadows behind him. Sitting down and looking over the city silently, Naruto couldn't help a slight feeling of nostalgia that washed over him. _'Sometimes I wonder… am I really me? Or… am I someone else? Then again, maybe I'm still me, and I'm just living someone else's life for them as well.'_ Naruto thought to himself before silently taking another bite out of his ice cream.

"So, what do we do next?" Axel wondered aloud and Naruto closed his eyes with a thoughtful expression across his face.

"Well… every time I go to a new world, I usually end up either looking for something, or helping someone. But this time, I've been to this world before, so maybe I just need to wait for another Dark-Corridor to open for me." Naruto mused aloud while tapping his chin and Axel looked over to Larxene.

"What do you say, want to head out with him?" Axel questioned and Larxene took a thoughtful expression for a moment.

"Eh, not like we have anything better to do. Besides, he's better than traveling with that old fart, that's for sure." She mused aloud and Axel grinned while placing his arm over Naruto's shoulders once more.

"Looks like we're with you then kid, lead on." Axel offered and Naruto rubbed his chin before spotting something just hovering in the distance.

"What's that?" He wondered aloud and Axel narrowed his eyes, also spotting something landing by the Old Mansion.

"Not sure, wanna go check it out?" Axel questioned and Naruto nodded his head before closing his eyes and concentrating. Raising a brow, Axel then watched as darkness started to form out of the metal around the boy's lower jaw. The Darkness then wrapped over Naruto's face and head, forming the black glass dome of his helmet. His helmet restored, the blond then got up and made a Dark-Corridor so he and the others could get to the ground. "C'mon then, lets move out girls." Axel mused as he and Larxene got up as well, Tira following them while finishing her ice cream off…

--

Sora hopped out of his Gummi-Ship and stretched his arms upwards. Looking around for a moment, Sora then reached down into the ship and helped Kairi out. Coming out of the ship a sitting on the edge of one of its wings, the girl smiled up at the boy. "Thank's Sora." Kairi offered and Sora rubbed the back of his neck with a slight blush while Riku rolled his eyes.

"Get a room you two." He muttered while getting out of the ship and the boy and girl both blushed while King-Mickey's gummi-ship landed nearby. Hopping out of his ship, the king looked around and then smiled as Goofy fell out of the ship his shield slamming into his head and Donald landed on Goofy's back. _'Some things never change.'_ Mickey mused to himself before looking over to Sora and his gang as they got off their Gummi-ship and walked over to him.

"So where too first your majesty?" Sora asked with his arms crossed behind his head and Mickey took a thoughtful expression for a moment.

"Lets head into town and see if we can't spot any of the pages to Xehanort's research." Mickey mused aloud and Sora nodded his head, following the mouse while Kairi suddenly smiled as an idea came to mind.

"Hey Sora, maybe we can visit Hayner, Pence, and Olette while we're still here as well?" Kairi questioned and Sora grinned before nodding his head in agreement with the girl as they walked into the forest outside of the old mansion.

"Gawsh, I wonder how they're all doing…" Goofy wondered aloud and Donald shrugged his shoulders.

"Dey don't have to worry about fighting de forces of darkness, so dey're probably alright." Donald mused aloud and Goofy nodded his head while they walked into the Tram-Common section of Market-Street. Walking through the streets, Mickey suddenly stopped and looked around when he felt something.

"You alright your majesty?" Sora asked while turning to the mouse that quickly spun around and held Darkside out.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here…" A very familiar voice mused aloud as Axel walked from behind a nearby wall, arms crossed over his chest while looking to the group with an amused smirk.

"Oganization XIII?" Riku questioned in shock and Sora blinked in surprise.

"Axel, is that really you?" Sora questioned and the man reached a hand up to brush his bright blood colored hair back.

"Who else?" Axel questioned with a grin and Sora smiled.

"But how, you were, well, fading into Darkness last time we saw you?" Sora questioned and Axel merely crossed his arms behind his head and smirked.

"I have my ways…" Axel said mysteriously while Larxene walked from behind the same wall as Axel a scowl clear across her lips as she formed her knives between her fingers. Beside of her was Tira, a third figure staying out of sight behind the two, as they got closer to the group…

"Well if it isn't the little punk and his friends that nearly destroyed me…" Larxene growled out angrily and Axel grimaced.

"Oh this won't end well." Axel muttered to himself and Riku narrowed his eyes.

"Sora, do you know this chick?" Riku asked and Sora shrugged his shoulders.

"Not really, she's in Jiminy's Journal and is supposed to be a member of Organization XIII, but…" Sora admitted with a confused look and Larxene growled low in her throat. However, Mickey narrowed his eyes on the purple-eyed girl, or more specifically, the person standing behind her.

"Who are you?" Mickey demanded while pointing Darkside towards the person and Tira tilted her head as she pointed to herself.

"Me? My name is Tira…" She stated with a blink and Mickey shook his head.

"No, the person behind you!" Mickey stated simply and then felt his eyes widen as a familiar figure dressed in black and red biological armor stepped out from behind Tira. Upon seeing the armor, Sora, Riku, and Kairi instantly summoned their own keyblades and Axel shook his head. "V-Vanitas." Mickey said with wide eyes while taking several steps back.

"Man, why did I know this was going to happen?" Axel wondered before forming fire at his sides and taking hold of his Chakrams.

"What are you doing here Vanitas?" Mickey demanded and Axel and Larxene looked to one another before shrugging their shoulders.

"I don't know what you've heard mouse man, but his name isn't Vanitas, it's…" Axel started to say, only for Naruto to place a hand on the red heads shoulder as he walked passed him.

"Change your suit and travel with new allies all you want Vanitas, but I still recognize your darkness clear as day." Mickey stated and Naruto raised a brow before reaching back and pulling both Dark-Heart and Soul-Blade from his back.

_[I truly have no idea who you're supposed to be talking too… but regardless of that… I have something I need to settle with the kid over there. So get out of my way before I make you!]_ Naruto stated simply while holding his keyblades at his sides and Mickey lunged forward, Naruto leaning back to fall into a Dark-Corridor and evade. Popping back up behind Sora, Naruto swung Dark-Heart but both Kairi and Riku blocked with their own keyblades. Grunting Naruto was then thrown back as King-Mickey lunged and slammed his keyblade into his helmet.

Flipping in midair and landing in a low crouch, Naruto reared a hand back before slamming it into the ground. A dark pool instantly started forming under him, several Neo-Shadows crawling up and out of it. "He can control the Heartless?" Sora wondered aloud while Naruto lunged forward, the Neo-Shadows lunging at Riku and Kairi as he swung his blades into Sora's.

"Think we should do something?" Axel suddenly asked Larxene and she gave him a look before grinning widely.

"Paybacks a bitch and so am I!" Larxene replied as she rushed into the thick of battle, Tira grinning insanely while following the blond haired girl into battle. Shrugging his shoulders, Axel licked his lips before lunging at Donald and Goofy to keep them both busy while Naruto let off a little steam…

Sora evaded a swing of Dark-Heart before rolling under another swing from the duel wielding dark-warrior. Landing in a low crouch Sora twisted around and slammed his own Keyblade into his opponents back. However he then cursed as a lightning coated knife came flying at him. "Remember me brat?" Larxene mocked before she seemed to split, three of her laughing as they lunged at Sora. Cursing under his breath, Sora flipped over Larxene and then fired a fire spell into her back, forcing her to the ground. This was enough of a distraction for Naruto to kick him from the side causing him to skid along the ground before flipping back to his feet.

_[Larxene, deal with the mouse and the guy with silver hair, the kid is mine!]_ Naruto growled out as he lunged passed Larxene, the woman glaring at the blond as he locked blades with Sora.

"What the hell? The brat kills me and I don't even get to have any payback?!" She demanded before turning her angry eyes over to King-Mickey as he came towards her. Cracking her neck the girl forced lightning out of her entire body, knocking the mouse back as she felt one of her eyes twitch. "Urgh! Mouse, you're so unlucky I'm seriously pissed off right now!" Larxene growled out before lunging at Mickey, splitting into multiple copies of herself and then moving with inhuman speed as they all started trying to attack the king.

Meanwhile, Tira flipped over a swing from Riku before giggling as she swung her ring-blade at his legs. Cursing, Riku flipped over the swing only to quickly duck as Tira brought her weapon towards him at an upward angle. Flipping back into a stance Riku quickly locked his Keyblade with Tira's as the girl grinned at him psychotically. "What the hell are you guys doing here? Are you trying to create more Heartless?" Riku demanded with a deep scowl as Kairi hit Tira with a fire spell from the side, knocking the girl away from him.

Giggling like a maniac, Tira flipped onto her feet and Riku watched on in shock as the burn healed over almost instantly. "I don't know why I'm here, but my Master does… and besides that, why are any of you still breathing?!" Tira demanded crazily as she lunged towards Riku, spinning in her ring blade as the silver haired youth cursed while rolling out of the way. Coming out of the spin and twisting into a stance, Tira licked her lips before grinning as she threw her Ring-Blade straight for Riku…

Meanwhile Sora blocked one of Naruto's keyblades before flipping over a heatless and then spun into an attack, slicing the Neo-Shadow in half. Roaring out, Naruto lunged forward then swung Dark-Heart at Sora. Evading the Keyblade, Sora cursed while twisting out of the way of Soul-Blade as it nearly took his head off. Landing in a crouch and turning towards Naruto, Sora saw the Heartless around him and nodded his head while placing a hand to his chest.

In an explosion of light Naruto was now dressed in a primarily black and red version of his outfit, Oblivion and Oathkeeper now clutched in his hands. _[So you can use two keyblades as well… this should make this fight a little more interesting at the very least.]_ Naruto mumbled to himself before crouching down and lunged at Sora. Seeing the move the brown haired boy locked his keyblades with Naruto's while looking towards the hidden eyes of his opponent.

"Why are we even fighting, what do you even have to gain by doing this?" Sora demanded of the teen and Naruto grunted while quickly kicking the teen in the chest. Grunting, Sora rolled backwards for a bit before flipping to his feet as Naruto gripped the handles of his two Keyblades tightly.

_[Nothing really, I just want to see whose better between the two of us… my loathsome Other…]_ Naruto replied darkly while lunging at the teen, swinging Dark-Heart towards him quickly. However just as quickly it was blocked with Sora's Oblivion, before Sora then blocked Soul-Blade with Oathkeeper and shoved Naruto back. Taking a step back Sora then brought both blades forward and into a powerful lunging thrust. Cursing, Naruto flipped over Sora and then brought Dark-Heart back over his head before then throwing it at Sora from behind.

Quickly rolling to the side to evade the spinning projectilem Sora held his one of his Keyblades into the air where a bolt of lightning came down from the sky before slamming into Naruto's back. Slamming into the ground with a grunt, Naruto then looked up as Sora lunged at him once more. Growling in his throat, Naruto flipped to his feet and then jumped over Sora and brought his keyblades down on the boy. Moving quickly Sora slid down under the two keyblades before twisting into an attack of his own. Seeing the move, Naruto twisting in the air before blocking the attack with his own keyblades.

"What good is fighting a pointless battle… who cares whose the better between us?" Sora demanded of Naruto and the blond haired boy twitched before kicking the youth once more and then slammed his foot into the ground. Arches of darkness rushed out from around him, several curving along the ground before heading towards Sora. Seeing this the youth quickly rolled out of the way to evade them and then threw Oathkeeper towards Naruto. Cursing then blocking and knocking the weapon to the side, Naruto narrowed his eyes and watched as Sora effortlessly recalled it to his hand with a single flash of light.

_[It may be a pointless battle to you… but to me, it's something I have to know. I need to know who's really stronger between us… you or me. Light… or Darkness…]_ Naruto replied, ending with a soft tone while looking to Dark-Heart for a moment and then gripped both of his blades in his hands tightly, teeth gnashed together under his mask / helmet. _[So prepare yourself Sora! I'm not holding anything back anymore!]_ Naruto exclaimed while swinging Dark-Heart, an arch of Darkness spreading from the blade and heading straight for Sora. Blocking the attack easily, Sora then lunged forward and slammed his shoulder into Naruto's stomach. Stopping on one heel, Naruto swung both of his weapons, knocking Naruto back and onto his ass.

"Please you have to stop this… I really don't want to have to fight you if I don't have too. But if you keep this up I'll be forced to fight you with all I have." Sora pleaded and Naruto chuckled lightly in his throat while getting himself back to his feet.

_[No… I won't stop. This fight was inevitable, for as you are a Warrior of Light, so am I a Seeker of Darkness!]_ Naruto exclaimed while lunging forward and swinging at Sora once more, the youth rolling under him and coming up behind the blond. Swinging Oblivion Sora watched as Naruto vanished before appearing beside him. Flipping in midair to evade another attack from Naruto, Sora swinging Oathkeeper upward, connecting with Naruto's chin and causing him to stumble back a bit when it knocked him off balance.

Shaking his head, Naruto narrowed his eyes on Sora as the boy got into another stance with his two keyblades when an idea came to mind. _'But the question is can I pull it off…? Aw what the hell, I've had worse ideas, besides I need an edge over this kid, he's got me in terms of experience when it comes to how to use a bladed weapon…'_ Naruto thought to himself before cracking his neck and twisting his blades in hand. Quickly throwing Soul-Blade into the air, Naruto brought out Gears-of-Madness before lunging forward once more.

Swinging GoM at Sora he watched the boy evade and grinned as he released his hold on the weapon. Twisting Dark-heart into a reverse grip and swinging it, Naruto watched as Sora blocked it once more. However Sora then watched on in shock as Naruto flipped upwards, releasing his hold on both weapons and snapped his fingers, Soul-Blade appearing above him from a cloud of Darkness. Reaching up and taking hold of Soul-Blade above him where he did a barrel roll with it, knocking Sora back. Quickly moving, Naruto took up GoM from midair and twisted it into a reverse grip as he slammed it into Sora's midsection.

Stumbling back, Sora then grunted as Naruto landed and quickly spun around, grasping Dark-heart before it hit the ground and slammed it into Sora, forcing him to step back. Releasing Soul-Blade Naruto quickly snatched up GoM before it hit the ground and swung it upwards slamming it into Sora's chin and knocking him off his feet. Releasing both weapons Naruto took hold of Dark-Heart from above with both hands and then did a barrel roll once more, slamming it into his head. Continuing this routine, Naruto never let one of his Keyblades hit the ground as he kept moving forward, using his Momentum to keep himself moving faster and faster so Sora couldn't block his attacks.

Soon seeing Sora stumble Back, Naruto threw Soul-Blade up into the air and swung with both Dark-Heart and GoM, an X shaped beam coming from his two weapons and slamming into Sora, knocking him back. Throwing GoM into the air and catching Soul-Blade as it started to come back down, Naruto reared it back before turning and swinging the weapon, sending it hurtling towards Sora before slamming into him and sending him skidding away. Catching Soul-Blade as it came back, he placed both it and Dark-Heart onto his back before lifting his hand to take hold of Gears of Madness hilt…

'_Holy shit I can't believe that actually worked…'_ Naruto thought to himself before cursing as he ducked out of the way as King-Mickey came at him. Mickey then flipped in midair and landed behind the blond as Naruto quickly turned towards Mickey, only for Larxene, or at least two of her clones, to attack him once more. Looking to his side he saw the real Larxene watching with a slightly amused expression across her features. _[I thought you were dealing with that mouse?]_ Naruto questioned flatly and Larxene grinned at the blond haired seeker cheekily.

"No, you said that, I wanted to get some payback on Sora." She reminded before turning to where Sora was getting up with a groan, only Kairi then healed him from the side. Feeling refreshed, Sora instantly twisted his Keyblades and formed into a stance across from the two, Larxene huffing in annoyance. "Shit, just when he was starting to look like we could actually take him down." She muttered and Naruto lunged forward, Gears of Madness held tightly in his hand as he swung the weapon, taking hold of its handle with both hands, and catching both of Sora's in a deadlock.

Turning when she heard a sound, Larxene huffed when she saw King-Mickey take down her copies. Leaning her cheek into one palm, Larxene looked at the mouse as he stood before her defiantly with an annoyed stare. "You know, its days like today I almost wish I was still a Dusk…" She said mostly to herself before blinking and slapping her face. "What the hell am I saying?" She demanded before holding her arms to the side with a wide grin across her lips as lightning began to arch down her arms to her fingertips. "I live for this shit!" She exclaimed before bringing her arms back and then throwing them forward, a beam of lightning flying from her fingers towards Mickey.

Thinking quickly, Mickey evaded the beam and then lunged forward, rushing towards the blond girl. Grinning cheekily, Larxene laughed while vanishing from sight before appearing beside him and swinging her knives. Upon sending the mouse into the air she and her clones quickly attacked him. Righting himself in the air, Mickey evaded and then quickly grabbed one of the clones before throwing it back into the original. Grunting as she hit herself Larxene was then knocked into the ground as Mickey came down on top of her.

Back with Sora and Naruto, the two stand before one another Sora taking a stance with one Keyblade over his shoulder, Naruto taking a stance with only Gears of Madness in his hands… "There's no way I can talk you out of this… is there?" Naruto questioned and Naruto smirked as he crouched back slightly, eyes a bright yellow gold.

_[Sorry… but no. I must know, who is the stronger warrior between us.]_ Naruto stated simply as he and Sora squared off, all else forgotten, the fighting between the others never once entering their minds. Lunging forward Naruto swung GoM at Sora, the boy blocking the attack before shoving him back.

"Then I won't hold back either…" Sora stated softly before then leaning back and lunging forward, jumping into a barrel roll, both of his keyblades spinning at his sides as he came down towards Naruto. Quickly rolling out of the way, Naruto grunted as an explosion of light from the attack still managed to hit him in the back. Sora however quickly moved into a swing, hitting Naruto from behind and sending him into the air. Lunging after the masked blond, Sora flipped into the air and started to repeatedly slam his Keyblades into him before then bringing both down on top of him, sending him flying down into the ground.

Grunting and rolling out of the way as Sora came down with both his Keyblades pointed down, Naruto flipped to his feet before holding his free hand to one side. Forming some anti-lightning in it he then threw it at Sora, the blast slamming into Sora's chest. Lunging forward Naruto slammed GoM into the disorientated blond before twisting on his heel and bringing it up, slamming it into Sora's chin and then swung GoM over his shoulder, slamming Sora back into the ground.

Using the momentum, Sora rolled back to his feet before swinging both of his Keyblades, waves of light arching off of them and forming a perfect circle around his body. Cursing Naruto flipped back and away from the attack before swinging GoM over his head and vanished. Reappearing behind Sora, Naruto swung at the boy only for him to flip over him. Vanishing once more and repeating the tactic Sora flipped over him once more. Vanishing once more, Naruto appeared and shot up from the ground hitting Sora from below before flipping in the air.

Falling to the ground, Naruto landed in a low crouch while Sora righted himself and did the same. Lunging forward at the same time, Sora then swung his Keyblades, knocking GoM out of Naruto's hands and into the air. Lunging up he caught the weapon, causing Oblivion to glow as it flew beside of him. Widening his eyes as Sora came down and lunged forward, Naruto was hit by all three keyblades repeatedly before being sent flying back. Righting himself in midair and then sliding to a halt Naruto formed a ball of fire in his hand before throwing it at Sora, the boy batting it away as he ran at his opponent.

Quickly taking Dark-Heart and Soul-Blade from his back Naruto lunged forward as well, slamming his weapons into Sora's. The force of the attack sent both teens flying back before flipping in midair and landing on their feet. Lunging at Naruto once more, Sora was caught off guard as the youth formed pillars of Darkness around his body before forcing it out of himself, slamming it into Sora. Quickly sheathing Dark-Heart and Soul-Blade, Naruto teleported beside of Sora and retook his GoM keyblade. Moving quickly he then spun his body into a roundhouse kick, knocking Sora to the side.

Landing on their feet once more the two stare one another down, Sora narrowing his eyes as he lunged forward and swung both of his Keyblades, an arc of light heading straight for Naruto. Flipping over the Arc of light Naruto lands and lunges forward, swinging his keyblade up and knocking Sora's weapons into the air. Lunging up and taking hold of them, the two weapons glow black as they float at his sides. Landing with a plop, Naruto roared as he lunged at Sora once more, repeatedly slamming GoM into the boy as the floating keyblades followed his actions perfectly in attacking their master.

Swinging his blades once more and sending Sora flying away, Naruto lunged at him once more. However, the brunette flipped in the air and landed behind Naruto. Quickly reaching back and taking his keyblades Back, Sora turned into a swung only to come into another Deadlock with his Other. Naruto shoves Sora back, the other boy twisting back and taking a stance as his Drive-Form wears off, returning the brunette boy back to his original form. Raising a brow when he sees this, Naruto can't help a smug smirk as Sora starts to pant from the overexertion of power.

_[Humph, so that power of yours is only temporary… too bad, as for me, so long as I keep hold of my blades I can dual-wield all I wish…]_ Naruto noted as he then pulled Dark-Heart from his back and held it in his right hand, holding Gears of Madness in his left hand…

"I may not have two keyblades in this form, but I'll only need one to take you down!" Sora stated while holding his hand to the side, his Kingdom-Key changing in design to a much different Keyblade…

Rather shockingly to Naruto this one had more of a blade to it than any of Sora's other Keyblades, being a glowing almost glass like blade with a gold and silver bar down the middle, a gold / blue filigree down its form that curved down to form a heart just above its handle, a golden sideways heart was stationed near the tip of the blade with a golden sideways crown coming off of it to form its teeth, its guard was made of a golden arc that formed into more of the gold / blue filigree beside of its blue leather covered handle, last the pommel was made of gold with shimmering thread reaching down to attach to a white gilded heart… (Ultima Weapon…)

Lunging forward Sora then locked his blades with Naruto's, pushing the masked teen back. "W-Who are you anyways? It doesn't feel right fighting someone when I don't even know their name." Sora demanded then stated through gritted teeth and Naruto felt himself answer, but it wasn't him that answered to the boy's question exactly, rather it felt as if someone else somehow answered through him…

_[I'm just someone from the Dark.]_ Naruto replied while pushing himself and Sora back, both landing in low crouches. Looking on, Sora felt his eyes widen as he recognized the stance as Naruto slowly got up and then crouched down, keyblades tip down to the ground.

"You… you can't be, Roxas?" Sora questioned and Naruto twitched under his mask, making a mental note to find then kill this Roxas guy someday.

_[Roxas? Again with that name… No… now shut up about him, and focus on the here and now!]_ Naruto said to a now very confused Sora before quickly swinging his blades back and lunging forward, the tips of Naruto's blades began to grind along the ground as he came close and close to Sora. Swinging one of his blades Sora dodged and then blocked when Naruto swung his other blade. Flipping up into a roll before landing in another stance Naruto lunged at his counterpart.

Flipping up to attack first, Naruto quickly blocked an attack from Sora while pushing him further into the air. Jumping up after Sora, Naruto swung his blades over his shoulders while Sora turned in midair. Their keyblades came into a deadlock once more before they shoved one another back yet again, both landing on the ground across from one another. Growling, Naruto lunged forward once more, swinging Dark-Heart at Sora but his Other merely flipped to the side to evade him. Twisting on his heel, Naruto swung Gears of Madness at Sora but the boy twisted to the other side to evade yet again.

Growling in his throat, Naruto swung both keyblades up only for Sora to quickly move his Ultima-Weapon up to block both blades. Clinching his fists, Naruto started to repeatedly slam his Keyblades into Sora's Ultima-Weapon, the repeated hammering from the blond soon causing Sora to loose his footing. Seeing this Naruto quickly swung Gears of Madness, knocking Sora's Ultima-Weapon over to the side. Quickly raising Dark-Heart over his head, Naruto swung it at Sora but the brown haired boy rolled towards his Ultima-Weapon. Cursing under his breath the teen flipped over to it and stabbed Dark-Heart down into the Ultima-Weapon, pinning it down.

Quickly pointing Gears of Madness at Sora he watched the boy grit his teeth and clench his fist before holding a hand towards the fallen blade. Looking to Ultima-Weapon when a flash of light appeared, Naruto's eyes bolted seeing it was gone. _[What?!]_ Naruto demanded and Sora twisted around and brought his Ultima-Weapon up, slamming it into Naruto's chin and sending him flying back, his Helmet flying off his head as well before it then rolled over to Riku's feet.

"Master!" Tira exclaimed while quickly flipping over to Naruto and growling as she took a defensive stance over his prone form. Both Axel and Larxene moving to him as well, now surrounded by Sora and his friends.

"Shit, there's too many of them to fight head on like this… not to mention there's not enough of us. If we had even one more person fighting we could, but that Princess healing the other's is making this fight really difficult!" Axel muttered while Larxene rolled her eyes and forced lightning to crawl down her arms.

"Quit your complaining, it's not doing us any good." Larxene grumbled out with a frown while Sora got back to his feet and breathed out a sigh while Naruto groaned while rolling onto his side in pain. Moving Dark-Heart up and using it as leverage to stand up, Naruto panted before then slowly standing up and turning to face Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Upon seeing the blond haired boy their eyes widened upon seeing the familiar face and unruly mop of blond spikes for hair that topped off his head…

"Roxas…" Riku whispered and Naruto grit his teeth while holding Gears of Madness at his side, bright yellow gold eyes narrowed onto him.

"No… and for the millionth time now, my name is Naruto." The blond replied with a twitch while pushing himself to his feet and then twirled Gears of Madness and Dark-Heart in his hands.

"We should really get out of here." Axel noted before Naruto blinked as a red light started coming from his side. Blinking as a red field then appeared below him, Naruto watched as the Cheshire cat suddenly appeared and looked around casually.

"My, my, my… what kind of trouble have you gotten into this time?" Cheshire wondered aloud while several of Sora's group shivered upon seeing the visage of the clearly starved / furless cat.

"It's a long story Cheshire…" Naruto stated simply and Cheshire slowly nodded his head while looking around. "So, to what do I owe this rather unexpected visit then?" Naruto asked and Cheshire frowned for a moment while looking around.

"I need you to return to my world at once, we're getting closer to the queen and things are getting most dangerous." Cheshire replied while Mickey looked to Donald and Goofy, both shrugging their shoulders.

"Right then… Axel, Larxene, Tira, we're leaving." Naruto stated while looking around and Axel nodded his head. Twirling GoM in one hand, Naruto placed it behind his back before grinning. "It looks like we'll have to settle this matter some other time, it would seem that I have more important matters that I need to attend." Naruto offered with a mocking bow before snapping his fingers, a Dark-Corridor opening up over top him.

"Stop him!" Riku suddenly said as he rushed towards the Corridor, only to come to a stop when it vanished completely. Cursing, Riku then dispelled his keyblade while Sora turned to see Mickey frowned.

"Your majesty, who was that guy?" Sora questioned and Mickey blinked before shaking his head slowly.

"I thought… I thought he was Vanitas, that was his armor at least…" The mouse replied before dispelling his keyblade and wandering off. "Sora, Riku, Kairi, take Donald, and Goofy with you and look around for more pages from Xehanort's Research… I want to check something out on my own…" Mickey then said as he walked off, Sora rubbing the back of his neck as the king walked away…

--

(Radiant Garden…)

Kakashi groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, then placed a hand to his head and closed his eyes upon seeing a bright light. "Has to be a hospital of some kind…" He mumbled before slowly opening his eye once more, widening them when he saw a very young girl with auburn hair looking down at him.

"Good, you're finally starting to wake up. Hopefully the other one will awaken soon as well." The girl mused before moving over to the side, Kakashi grunting as he slowly sat up and saw his student Sakura lying on a table next to him.

"What… where am I?" The disorientated nin questioned and the girl turned to him and raised a brow.

"This is the Radiant Garden Medical Facility. I am Shelke, who are you?" The girl said, then questioned and Kakashi blinked for a moment before rubbing his head.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi… but, where's Radiant Garden? I've never heard of a place by that name." Kakashi questioned and the girl looked at him with an emotionless stare before sighing as she checked on Sakura.

"I figured as much. And as for where this is, and I can assure you that this is the utter truth of the matter, Radiant Garden is another world separate from your own." Shelke explained while Sakura groaned and Kakashi's eyes widened remembering Naruto's words…

"So Naruto and Obito were both right after all… there are other worlds out there… just waiting to be explored." He mumbled to himself softly while Sakura's eyes fluttered open and she yelped upon seeing Shelke.

"W-who are you?" She asked and the girl didn't even bat a lash before answering the pinkette.

"My name is Shelke. Just Shelke, and before you ask you are in the Medical Facility of Radiant Garden." Shelke responded flatly while then turning away from Sakura and walking over to a computer. "Now that you are both awake, I'll let mister Hatake answer any further questions. I still have much work to do." Shelke stated while starting to type on the computer while Sakura looked around and saw an unreadable expression crossed over Kakashi's features.

"Kakashi Sensei, what's going on?" Sakura questioned and the silver haired nin turned to look at her and sighed before rubbing his face.

"I… I've been proven wrong twice… Obito always used to go on and on about visiting other worlds… and now it looks like he was right." Kakashi mumbled and Sakura fixed the man with a stare. "Naruto… where is Naruto?" Kakashi suddenly questioned while looking around and Shelke rolled her eyes.

"You two were the only ones found. It would seem that even though your world was pulled into Darkness, you've managed to preserve yourselves." Shelke explained and Kakashi sighed before rubbing his face and looking down.

"That's not to say no one else survived." Another, this time male voice, commented and Kakashi and Sakura turned to see a brown haired man standing in a nearby doorway. "But if they did, then they didn't land on our world." Leon finished and Kakashi smiled slightly under his mask, more than just a little relieved.

"Oh. Right. Um… who are you then?" Kakashi questioned and Leon reached up and brushed some hair from his eyes before answering.

"Call me Leon." He offered and Kakashi chuckled lightly while Sakura looked utterly lost.

"Right then Leon-San. I have another question…" Kakashi stated and Leon raised a brow.

"What?" The man asked and Kakashi clenched his fists.

"I want to know, how you kill Heartless…" Kakashi replied and Leon was silent for a moment as he gazed at the silver haired man silently…

--

TBC…

--


	21. Night of the Jabberwocky

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 20**_: _**Night of the Jabberwocky**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(??)

"_Again." A familiar old man ordered of his twelve-year-old apprentice. Sighing, the youth took a stance and lunged at his master, swinging a wooden keyblade in a backhanded stance. Sighing, the master twisted his own wooden weapon while dodging to the side, thus knocking the youth forward. Groaning the youth pushed himself up and saw a frown spread over his master's face._

"_Sorry Master…" The boy mumbled and the old man sighed while rubbing his face with one hand._

"_Tell me, do you know why you continue to lose?" The man questioned and the youth sat up on the ground while rolling a pebble under one foot._

"_Because your… better than me?" He hazarded a guess and the old man cracked a small smile in response._

"_Partly. But the full truth of the matter is it is because you continue to try and use that "Speed-Rave" style of yours…" The old man stated simply and the youth chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his neck._

"_Oh yeah… I still haven't perfected that yet…" He admitted while looking away from the old man, his master rolling his eyes in response._

"_Listen, you can't expect to create and master a style this quickly. It takes time for even the most experienced apprentice to create his or her own personal style of combat. You can't expect to just instantly be successful in creating it either, put a little time and effort into it, and eventually your style could become something great… but until then, stick to the basics." His master ordered flatly and the youth grimaced before falling back and sighing visibly._

"_But the basics are so boring Master… why I can't I learn something interesting?" The youth questioned and the old man gave him a mock glare before crossing his arms over his chest._

"_Because, until you master the basics, I won't teach you anything else, Ventus." He stated simply and the blond spiky haired youth groaned while looking to the sky as he crossed his arms over his chest…_

"_Yes Master Xehanort…" He mumbled out dejectedly and the old man chuckled lightly in his throat from his student's antics…_

--

(Broken Wonderland…)

Naruto groaned while slowly sitting up, Tira passed out at his side while Axel and Larxene were sitting down nearby, talking to the Cheshire Cat. Looking around the blond saw that they were in a massive cave, an opening over to one side and another up near the roof to the other. Rubbing his head he also spotted several pieces of Meta-Essence lying around, either meaning Alice had gotten through here or it had all just been lying around.

"So your telling me, this girl's life went to shit when her parents and sister died in a fire, thus the combination of memories and survivors guilt broke her mind and this world by proxy?" Axel questioned and Cheshire nodded his head with a grin. "And now, since your entire world is merely a representation of her mind, your world has become a living hell to mirror this girl's sorry state?" Axel asked and Cheshire once more nodded his head, Larxene frowning to herself as she listened on.

"Talk about a raw deal." She mumbled and Cheshire rolled his eyes.

"Perhaps, but for Better of for Worse, our world is tied to Alice. If she dies here, then only the queen shall exist. And that cannot be allowed at any cost. We must protect, Alice." The cat stated with a low hiss in his throat at mention of the queen, Axel frowning as he thought about the matter further.

"Alright, there's an Alice in the worlds of light, she's a Princess of the Purest Heart, and Sora met here in a Wonderland… does that mean?" Axel started to question and Cheshire finished for him.

"Correct, Alice is her other, and a Princess of Shadowed Hearts, as is this Wonderland and its inhabitants a reflection of the other one in the Realm of Light." Cheshire stated and Axel grimaced while looking around.

"Shit… and I thought it was already insane enough in that wacky place. This world takes the cake." Axel mumbled while Naruto groaned and sat up, a hand placed over his face as Cheshire looked over to him with a grin.

"Ah, I see our young Seeker is finally awake at long last. Hurry my boy; Alice grows ever closer to confronting her greatest nightmare. You must make haste if you wish to save her." Cheshire warned and Naruto opened one eye while looking to the cat, and then looked over to Axel.

"Have any clue what's going on, Axel?" Naruto asked the red head while rubbing his head and the said Nobody shrugged his shoulders.

"Not sure, but from the looks of things, it can't be good." Axel explained with a shake of his head and Naruto slowly rose to his feet, noting idly that he was no longer in his Dark-Armor.

"Well that sucks, and I was just starting to get used to my armor." Naruto mumbled under his breath and Axel rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"That's nice and all man, but we kind of have a situation in case you've forgotten already." Axel felt then need to remind and Naruto nodded his head while walking over to the Cheshire Cat.

"Where is Alice, Cheshire? Normally I drop in close by to whomever I'm helping." Naruto asked then noted and the cat nudged towards the three rocks heading towards the opening near the ceiling.

"Journey to a land of Fire and Brimstone, there the Princess will face a most fearsome Dragon… be sure you make it there young knight, or there won't be any happily ever after…" Cheshire offered ominously before disappearing and Naruto looked over to Axel and Larxene.

"Well, I guess we head that way." Naruto mused before turning around and looked at the unconscious form of Tira. "Either of you want to carry her?" Naruto asked and Axel looked to Larxene, both snorting as they looked at the blond.

"She's your servant, you take care of her." Larxene stated and Naruto grunted before picking up Tira and throwing her over his shoulder. _'Yeah, I get to deal with carrying her around again… man, why is it always me that has to deal with this kind of shit?'_ Naruto wondered to himself while pinching the bridge of his nose with a frown stretched across his features.

"Alright, now let's move." Naruto stated as he rushed passed the two, Axel and Larxene following after him and climbing up to the opening in the cave. "Holy…" Naruto mumbled while trailing off at the end, Larxene gaping and Axel grimacing. The place they were looking at was a miniature mountain with tiny imps running around it, lava flowing down the sides of it like rivers, a clear path up the mountain with meta-essence obviously left by Alice. Looking to the Mountain itself, Naruto spotted a hint of blue scaling it's side, and on the top of the mountain was a house, the sky above them appearing as if it was on fire…

"That must be Alice's old home…" Axel mused and neither boy saw a haunted look pass over Larxene's face.

"Then what's it doing here?" Naruto wondered and Axel frowned.

"This is her mind after all, it stands to reason that a place like this would be here." Axel mumbled before sliding down the side to the base of the mountain, followed closely by Larxene and Naruto. Looking back up, and then to the side, Naruto frowned when he saw the only real way up was at the side. _'But it would take us too long to climb up from over there, and we need to get to Alice before she gets hurt by this so-called "Dragon" Cheshire warned us about…'_ Naruto mused to himself before rubbing his chin for a few moments.

"We don't have time to move over to the side scale it from there if we want to get to Alice anytime soon." Naruto mused quietly, speaking his inner thoughts and Axel took a thoughtful expression before grinning.

"You can make Ice right?" He asked and Naruto gave him a flat look.

"Black-Ice actually…" He admitted with a frown and Axel grinned wider. "But it's too hot around here to use it…" Naruto then reminded pointedly and Axel snapped his fingers.

"Yeah, but what if we helped one another up, it'd be faster than trying to find a way up there." Larxene offered and Axel turned to look at the girl with a shocked expression over his face.

"Your actually suggesting teamwork? Wow… who are you and what have you done with the real Larxene?" Axel asked the girl in mock amazement and the blond haired girl glared at him fiercely.

"Don't get used to it red, I'm still pissed at you but this is a mission." The girl reminded with a flat tone and Axel shrugged, giving her that much.

"Alright then, we go up the center, straight for the house and Alice." Naruto stated, both Larxene and Axel nodding their heads before the three made their way forward, hopping up the few stepping-stones they could find to the middle of the small mountain. Hearing a groan, Naruto then rolled his eyes as Tira slowly woke up while holding her head. _'Took her long enough…'_ The blond haired teen thought as his servant slowly looked up while rubbing her head.

"Ugh… I hate waking up…" She mumbled quietly and Naruto shook his head.

"Tira, up and atom we're climbing a mountain to fight a dragon… I think. Unless Cheshire was being metaphorical again." Naruto stated and Tira flipped off of him and grinned while flipping up the side of the mountain. "How does she do that?" Naruto wondered and Axel shrugged then groaned as Larxene followed after Tira, turning it into a little race.

"Why are all girls on the side of Darkness either out of their mind or extremely competitive?" Axel wondered aloud and Naruto shrugged his shoulders with a flat expression over his face.

"At least they're almost all hot as well…" He offered and Axel was silent for a moment before nodding his head.

"This is true." He admitted with a smirk before crouching down and cupping his hands together, Naruto using it as a step and managed to get up onto the next section of the mountain before pulling Axel up with him. Continuing this pattern the two found Tira and Larxene arguing over something, random pieces of some large green and grey creatures, and two imps just laying around the area as they slowly turned to Meta-Essence. _'Do I even want to know what they're arguing over?'_ Naruto wondered before shaking his head as he and Axel walked over to them.

"Having fun girls?" Naruto quipped while Axel nodded his head with a smirk, the two girls merely glaring at one another before crossing their arms and turning their backs to one another with a huff. "Alright, now we play the waiting game." Naruto mumbled to himself then walked over to the side of the house and looked down, smirking when he saw Alice below him, struggling to climb up the side of the mountain. Watching her jump from ledge to ledge with surprising skill, he idly wondered how she could do that when she wore high heels and a dress.

"Save yourself he says, face the Jabberwocky and get its bloody eye, Griffin will be your partner he says… if Griffin's my partner I'd rather like him to fly me up this stupid mountain! It's better than me climbing it all by myself! That stupid Caterpillar, next time I see him I should slice him in two for all the trouble he's put me through lately!" Alice proclaimed with an angry scowl across her face before nearly jumping back when a hand came down towards her.

Blinking, the emerald eyed girl looked up and spotted a grinning Naruto holding a hand towards her. "Oh dear, its just you, Naruto… well I must admit that this is a very pleasant surprise." She mused aloud while the blond haired teen took hold of one of her hands before he helped pull her up onto the top of the mountain with him. Climbing up and then standing, Alice brushed off her dress before looking to the smirking Naruto with a quizzical expression. "But pray tell why you're here? I didn't send Cheshire-Puss to get you, I don't rightly think I need your help and I'm still very much alive." Alice wondered and Naruto rolled his eyes while crossing his arms.

"Nice to see you again too, Alice. I see your attitude hasn't changed since I last saw you." Naruto said with a grin and the girl frowned towards the blond haired teen.

"I do not have an attitude." She stated and Naruto gave her a flat look before waving a hand over to Tira, Larxene, and Axel.

"If you say so. Anyways, this time around I brought some… allies to help you out." Naruto offered and Alice blinked for a moment as she saw the three strange looking people. _'Oh my, does everyone from Naruto's land dress in such a strange manor? Dear me I feel horribly out of place…'_ Alice thought to herself as she looked at the three before turning back to Naruto.

"Oh my… you brought guests to Wonderland then?" She asked and Naruto rubbed the back of his neck while Axel gaped.

"Guests? Lady, have you had a look around this place? It's not exactly a place that I'd like to take a vacation in…" Axel stated and Alice turned to him and then tilted her head to one side.

"I suppose… but it was much nicer before the Queen came around." Alice offered and Axel frowned, wondering if the place was like the Wonderland from the realm of light. "Oh where are my manners, please excuse my rudeness." Alice suddenly said before she brushed off her dress and walked over to the three newcomers. "How do you do, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintances. My name is Alice Pleasance Liddell." Alice offered with a curtsy to the three and Axel smirked over towards Larxene.

"You see Larxene, now THAT is how a Proper Lady acts." Axel states with a nod of his head towards Alice and both Larxene and Tira snort.

"So what." Larxene grumbled out with clear annoyance and Tira rubbed the back of her head for a moment.

"I never wanted to be a lady when I was growing up, I much preferred killing things…" Tira admits with a wide psychotic grin and Alice blushed upon looking at the girl, or rather, her choice of attire.

"Oh my, why do you dress like that? Wouldn't you prefer something a bit more… concealing?" Alice questioned of the other girl, Naruto rolling his eyes as he walked over to the two, and Tira blinked while scratching her head.

"What for?" Tira asked seriously and Alice looked at the girl in shock before turning to Naruto.

"Um… Naruto, you do know that your friend is dressed in an undignified, unladylike manner correct?" Alice questioned and Naruto nodded his head with a blank look across his face. "Then, wouldn't it be best for her if you convinced her to dress in a more dignified manner?" Alice then asked while looking over towards Tira and Naruto merely sighed in exasperation.

"She's insane… it's impossible to reason with her." He offered in explanation and Alice made and Oh with her mouth, easily able to understand.

"Please forgive me then, miss." Alice started then asked and Tira grinned.

"My name is Tira." Tira stated and Alice nodded her head once.

"Right then miss Tira. Please forgive my earlier actions as I sometimes forget that the insane are rather unreasonable. At least the ones in the asylum were very unreasonable, especially with all the screaming." Alice said with a bow of her head, before musing to herself and Axel looked over to Larxene.

"I think she's insane as well…" Axel whispered to the blond and she smirked.

"What was your first clue?" She quipped and Axel mocked her while Alice turned to them and bowed slightly.

"Pray tell I might ask who you two are then?" Alice questioned of the two Nobodies politely and Axle smirked.

"I'm called The Flurry of Dancing Flames, but my name is AXEL, got it memorized?" Axel offered with a grin, Alice twitching slightly at the mention of Fire, thus Larxene elbowed the man in the ribs.

"Shut up dumb-ass. Anyways, I'm called The Savage Nymph, but my name is Larxene." Larxene stated with a dismissive wave while Axel rubbed his ribs and glared at the girl, Alice twitching towards Axel before shivering violently.

"I don't really like fire…" She admitted softly and Axel chuckled nervously before taking a serious expression.

"So what we do now anyways?" He asked and Alice looked over to Naruto. Said blond looked over to Alice and the girl pointed her Vorpal-Blade towards the house.

"Now, we head inside, where the Jabberwocky awaits me." Alice admitted with a matter of fact tone and Larxene raised a brow.

"What the hell kind of name is Jabberwocky?" She demanded with a deep frown and Alice blushed once more while looking at the older woman.

"Miss Larxene, would you please reframe from such coarse language. It is most unbecoming of a lady." Alice pleaded and Larxene snorted, causing the girl to give a dejected sigh while Naruto walked passed them both.

"C'mon, we've still got a "Dragon" to fight." Naruto reminded as he walked over to a swirling "Vortex-Gate" at the front of the house, soon followed by Alice and the rest.

"You go in it first Larxene…" Axel stated and Larxene turned to give the man an incredulous expression. "What?" He demanded as the blond continued to give him the same strange look.

"Why don't YOU go in it fire boy?" Larxene demanded and Axel snorted, Naruto, Tira, and Alice watching the exchange silently.

"Cause it could be dangerous." Axel said as if it was the simplest thing in the world and Larxene placed her fists on her hips while glaring at the man.

"So you want ME to go in first instead?" Larxene demanded angrily and a sly smirk spread over Axel's features.

"Yeah, that's the jist of it." He admitted and the blond haired woman felt her fingers twitch before Naruto pushed passed both of them.

"Shut up both of you, I'll go in first if your going to be babies about it…" Naruto grumbled as he walked threw the gate, followed by Tira and Alice while Larxene and Axel both stared at the gate.

"A bunch of kids just made us look like idiots…" Axel noted and Larxene glared at the man once more.

"No. They made YOU look like an idiot." She insisted and Axel gave her a look before both walked through the gate and finally into the house. However, upon entering the next area, Naruto felt his eyes widen seeing the inside of the house was completely burned away, a few meager sections of the walls all that was left standing, parts of it were even still burning with one massive section of the floor all that kept them from falling into a deep dark pit.

"Alright… where's this Dragon already?" Larxene questioned impatiently while looking around the area. Frowning, Naruto walked next to Alice before turning his head to see something flying above the horizon. Blinking the blond haired boy watched what was happening before cursing as the creature on the horizon passed over them and then landed on the ground with a heavy thud, revealing a monster unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

Now standing across from them was a simply massive creature with sickly green skin that was twice Axel's height, it had a long neck, large freakish yellow eyes, two massive buckteeth, thin protruding whiskers from its cheeks, two long stalks reaching out from behind its eyes, its feet were like talons, having two in front and one in the back like a bird, its hands however were two fingered with two thumbs at the bottom of its hands, its forearms appeared skeletal in comparison to the rest of it, having a bony protrusion poking out of its elbows.

However, finally was what was obviously not organic, its chest and back were mostly mechanical, appearing like the front of an old wood or coal stove, turning gears visible where the skin of its stomach had once been, with two more spinning gears present where its arms met its shoulders, its wings were long, made from steel pipes, wooden planks, and brass parts, a pair of smoking pipes curving up from below its shoulders, and finally its long tail was mostly mechanical, the bony protrusions arching out of it near its base the only biological tissue of any kind…

"Ugh… now that's what I call one seriously ugly monster…" Axel muttered to himself while Alice boldly walked forward, Naruto staying close to her as the Jabberwocky looked down at the girl darkly.

"**You've kept me waiting, Alice. Have you never heard that Punctualities a Virtue?"** The creature intoned darkly, its voice betraying no emotion or even anger, making it sound all the more sinister. Frowning at the words of the creature, Alice crossed her arms and tilted her head with a sidelong glare towards the beast.

"You and my dentist's assistant have much in common." Alice noted dryly and Larxene blinked for a moment before snickering at the joke towards the massive beast. The Jabberwocky's only real action at this was to walk its way to the side of the platform they were all standing on, before pacing back to the other side.

"**You're habitually late, aren't you? Between your dim-witted daydreaming and your preening vanity the hours just fly by. There's barely time for anything else."** The Jabberwocky mused aloud as it paced the floor, its voice ever calm and collected, somehow making it sound even more sinister. Crossing her arms at the barb, Alice gave the Jabberwocky a defiant glare as it stopped to gaze at her sinisterly.

"That the best you can do? Hurl second-rate insults?" Alice demanded then brushed a few hairs back from her face. "They don't hurt…" She stated flatly and the Jabberwocky seemed to narrow its eyes on her before pacing back to the other side of the platform, keeping its bright yellow eyes locked onto her even as it did.

"**Your family was expecting you to come to them, weren't they? Perhaps they thought you might warn them of the danger… Being close to the source as you were. But they waited in vain, didn't they and died for their trouble."** The Jabberwocky mused, mock sympathy echoing in its voice while Alice blinked, clearly not expecting that to be thrown at her.

"W-we were all asleep." Alice said while Naruto looked to the girl worriedly as she started to shake, then placed her hands onto her head as her eyes started to widen. "It was an accident… I…" She tried to say but the Jabberwocky turned towards her, bright demonic yellow eyes gazing into her emerald orbs evilly.

"**You selfish, misbegotten, and unnatural child!"** Jabberwocky growled out in a low hiss, Alice shaking visibly while it did.

"Hey! Now that's enough freak, leave Alice alone!" Naruto growled out while pulling Dark-Heart and Soul-Blade from his back. However, the Jabberwocky didn't pay the blond haired teen any mind at all as it continued to verbally assault Alice.

"**You smelled the smoke. But you were in dreamland taking tea with your friends. You couldn't be bothered. Your room was protected and spared… while your family upstairs roasted in an inferno of incredible horror."** Jabberwocky let out in a low, rumbling growl while Alice suddenly fell to her knees, hands over her ears as she started to rapidly shake her head, eyes wide in fear and body quivering all over.

"No! It wasn't my fault, th-they t-told m-me to run… I didn't want to… I wanted to s-save them… I really d-did! I d-didn't want to r-run… I d-didn't want to run away!" She shouted mostly to herself while Larxene held her hands to the side, her knives appearing between her fingers while Axel formed his Chakrams in hands, a snarl across his face as well.

"Alright I've had about enough of this thing as I can take! I don't know who you think you are, but no one talks to a lady like that in my presence!" Axel roared out as his Chakrams started to spin then threw them straight for the Jabberwocky, slamming them into his chest and forcing him to take several steps back.

Roaring out loudly the Jabberwocky then jumped into the air came down in front of Axel before slamming a hand into him, sending him flying back. Moving quickly, Larxene then formed several clones and attacked the creature in tandem, forcing it back before it looked at her with one eye. Instantly a beam of energy slammed into Larxene, sending her flying into the wood of the platform. Roaring out, several creatures suddenly popped up beside of the Jabberwocky.

"Shit, Tira, deal with those things with extreme prejudice!" Naruto ordered and the girl grinned crazily before lunging at the Jabber-Spawn. Staring down the Jabberwocky as it made its way over to him, Naruto held his two keyblades at his sides.

"**Do you really think that you can save that pathetic girl you insignificant worm?"** The Jabberwocky demanded in its normal monotone and Naruto saw the quivering Alice out of the corner of his eye before narrowing them on the beast.

"Maybe, maybe not, but either way, I'm going to try and help her!" Naruto stated and the Jabberwocky grumbled low in its throat while unfurling its wings and hovering into the air above.

"**Then you will also die with her!"** The Jabberwocky said in a low growl before he was hit from behind by a combined blast of fire and lightning from Axel and Larxene. Roaring out in fury the creature turned to the two Nobodies and then breathed out a fireball towards them, Larxene evading it quickly as Axel stood still with a grin.

Grinning widely, Axel absorbed the fire instead and then slammed a foot into the ground walls of fire rising around the platform they were standing on. "Alright now we're talking baby!" Axel exclaimed before throwing his now flaming Chakrams at the Jabberwocky, slamming them into its chest and forcing him back a few paces, dead center in the arena. Making her own move, Larxene formed three clones around the arena, and they each fired a beam of lightning straight into the creature from all sides. Roaring out in fury, the Jabberwocky jumped up, out of the way of and then fired a beam of energy from one eye that slammed into Axel, before then breathing fire all around, burning Larxene as it did.

Growling, Naruto looked at the Jabberwocky as Larxene and Axel kept the monster busy, then rushed over to Alice where the Cheshire Cat appeared at her side. "Alice." Naruto said and the girl was silent her eyes wide and tears falling from them as she kept her hands clasped over her ears. "Alice it's me, Naruto." Naruto urged and the Cheshire cat frowned while looking at the girl.

"When logic is incapable of solving a problem, try to a little force to get things moving along." Cheshire offered and Naruto blinked towards the cat before his eyes lit up, taking hold of Alice's wrists he pulled them away from her ears.

"Alice! Wake up!" Naruto stated loudly and the girl looked up instantly, eyes wide and filled with tears.

"It… it wasn't my fault." She mumbled weakly and Naruto smiled kindly.

"No, it wasn't." Naruto offered and Alice pulled her wrists free from Naruto and started to rub her arms.

"Remember this Alice, Jabberwocky is a monster plain and simple. The vile creature is a Killer, and even his words can wound." Cheshire offered softly before vanishing into thin air and Alice sniffed before nodding her head. Turning around, Naruto saw Axel and Larxene get thrown away by the Jabberwocky, and then cursed as it breathed fire towards them, Axel absorbing the fire while Larxene crawled away.

"I hate to break up what looks to be a very touching moment, but we still kind of have a big problem over here!" Axel exclaimed before rolling back while Larxene rolled to the side as the Jabberwocky flew up and nearly came down on them. Cursing lightly Naruto got up and then looked around for Tira, spotting the girl as she cut another Jabberspawn to ribbons.

"You going to be okay Alice?" Naruto asked as he turned to the auburn haired girl and she looked at him for a moment before closing her eyes. Taking a few breaths, Alice clenched her fists and glared at the Jabberwocky, hate clear in her eyes as she took hold of her Vorpal blade.

"I'm going to cut him into pieces then slice his head off again!" Alice stated while reaching into one of her pockets and pulled out some Jax.

"Uh… Alice?" Naruto questioned and Alice twitched as she dropped a red ball to the ground, causing it to bounce while the Jax went zipping off. The Jax then produced small spikes from out of them as they started to repeatedly slam into the Jabberwocky causing it to roar out in pain as they hit.

"Whoa! Badass toys!" Axel stated and Larxene nodded her head dumbly as the Jabberwocky roared out in pain as the toys tore through his remaining flesh. Seeing his chance, Naruto lunged at the Jabberwocky's back and quickly jumped up and onto its tail. Climbing its tail as it thrashed with the Jax, Naruto then stabbed his keyblades into its back. Roaring out in pain, the Jabberwocky flew higher into the air while the Jax ceased, Naruto's eyes widening when it didn't turn into a heartless or just plain die…

"**Foolish boy!"** The Jabberwocky grumbled out before flapping his wings lifting him and Naruto up into the air. **"I have already died once already, my soul is no more. As for my heart it rotted away many years ago. And even if it hadn't I do not fear the Darkness, I welcome it!"** Jabberwocky rumbled out before reaching to his back and plucking Naruto off of him, then threw him down into the ground. Groaning, the blond then quickly rolled out of the way as the Jabberwocky nearly landed on top of him and roared loudly.

"Leave him alone!" Alice cried, only to be grabbed then tossed to the side by the Jabberwocky, teeth grit in fury. Inhaling a breath as it glared towards Alice, it prepared to release only to cry out in pain as a Griffon flew down from the sky and sliced into its face, knocking its fire off target and tearing its right eye out at the same time. Roaring out in pain as blood flowed from the open wound, The Jabberwocky flapped its wings before quickly flying into the sky, away from the battle.

"Wow… now that was one tough monster." Axel muttered before looking over to Alice as the Griffon landed near her. Walking over to Alice, Naruto helped the girl to her feet while the Griffon bowed its head before looking over to the eye it'd knocked out of the Jabberwocky's skull.

"Hurry Alice, you can finish the Eye-Staff now. The Troops are gathered, everything is ready, I'll deal with the Jabberwocky." Griffon stated while Axel and Larxene limped over to the creature, Larxene giving it a scathing glance.

"Listen you oversized parrot, if that thing could do this much damage to us, what makes you think it won't tear you apart." She stated snarkily and Axel sighed while shaking his head, wishing the girl would learn some tact.

"Be that as it may. I will at least keep him distracted for you as you infiltrate Queensland." Griffon replied curtly and then turned back over to Alice. "You are our Champion Alice. Lead us to Victory in Queensland." Griffon intoned before crouching down and flapped his wings, flying into the air after the escaping form of the Jabberwocky. Looking over to the dismembered eye, Alice sighed before snapping her fingers, a long staff and a triggering device appearing out of thin air.

"When did you learn how to do something like that?" Naruto asked flatly while sheathing his two Keyblades and Alice gave a cheeky grin to the blond boy.

"I've learned how to do a great deal since you've been away. Thank you very much." She replied while attaching the staff to the trigger, and then grimaces as she places the eye at the very tip, held onto the staff and trigger via several brass prongs sticking into it.

"There, now we can get into Queensland." Alice mused before looking around, Naruto doing the same as the fires around the house slowly dimmed. Then darkness swirled around them all before they suddenly appeared at a crossroads of sorts. Looking around, Alice noted Humpty-Dumpty sitting on a wall and recognized the area as one she had traversed ealier.

"What the hell? How'd we get here?" Naruto wondered aloud and Alice looked around as well, clearly confused by what had just transpired.

"Darkness helps those that help it, it's an equal exchange of sorts. So count yourselves lucky that you've been aiding darkness." Cheshire explained, appearing on a nearby rock and lounging lazily, one tail swinging at his side slowly.

"Okay." Axel mused softly while Tira walked over to Naruto with a grin.

"That was fun Master! Is there anymore things around here that you want me to kill for you?" Tira asked the blond haired boy happily and Alice gave Naruto a flat look.

"Master?" She asked seriously while crossing her arms over her chest and Naruto chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, she's kind of pledged herself to the sword on my back with an eye…" Naruto offered in explanation and Alice looked at the mentioned weapon and then decided she didn't want to know why someone would do that… especially when its eye swiveled around to stare at her unblinkingly.

"Alright. Now then Cheshire Puss, exactly how do we get to Queensland?" Alice asked and Cheshire took a thoughtful expression before grinning wider than normal.

"Paths that lead to trouble are all the same… they only appear different when you don't know where they lead." Cheshire offered before he vanished, Naruto pinching the bridge of his nose while Larxene gaped.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" The blond demanded and Alice turned and gave the girl a cross look.

"Please watch you language!" She stated and Larxene mocked her while Axel rubbed his temples.

"Oi… this is going to be a seriously long trip." Axel noted and Naruto nodded his head in agreement with the man.

"Why don't we just start killing things and see if that leads us there?" Tira asked and Naruto sighed while glaring at the girl.

"And if it leads us in a circle?" Naruto asked with a frown and Tira grinned in her insane way once more.

"Just kill everything else till we find the right way to go of course!" She replied happily and Alice looked at the girl for a moment then shook her head.

"You were right… she is insane. Not as insane as some of the people in the asylum, but insane nonetheless…" She mumbled out with a grimace then frowned as she looked around. "But which way is Queensland?" Alice then wondered and a catty looking smirk crossed over Naruto's face as an idea came to him.

"When you can't tell the right way from the wrong way, choose the path less traveled. That way, at least you'll know your not going in a circle." Naruto offered and got looks from Axel, Larxene, and Alice.

"You just sounded like Cheshire-Puss again…" Alice stated and Naruto blinked before slapping his face in annoyance.

"Regardless, he has a point. In theory if we follow the direction Alice's footprints aren't going, we should reach Queensland." Axel mused aloud and Larxene nodded her head in agreement with the man. Looking to Alice, the girl sighed before pointing over to Humpty-Dumpty, as he sat on a wall next to a doorway. "No way… is that Humpty-Dumpty?" Axel asked in shock and Alice rolled her eyes while Larxene shook her head and stared at the sight in shock.

"Yes, yes, he's Humpty-Dumpty, now c'mon, we shouldn't dawdle." Alice stated and then walked towards the egg man as Axel and Larxene continued to stare. Rolling his eyes, Naruto motioned for Tira to follow him as he made his way after Alice. Back with Axel and Larxene, the red head looked to his blond fellow Nobody in shock.

"This world is weirder than the other Wonderland." He stated and Larxene nodded her head before following after the others, Alice throwing her Vorpal-Blade at an Imp while Tira dealt with another. Upon getting closer to Humpty-Dumpty, Axel grimaced upon seeing the partly shattered egg man, Cheshire soon appearing beside the silent egg man…

"Look, Alice. Though his elliptical essence is unrecognizable, it's wrong to think him worthless." Cheshire offered mysteriously before vanishing and Alice frowned, crossed her arms and walked over to the wall Humpty-Dumpty was sitting on. Hopping up and onto it, Alice placed her hands behind the egg man and pressed in on a brick, instantly it slid inwards and she heard something move.

"Well what do you know, they used him to hide a switch." Axel murmured in surprise while Alice hopped off the wall and turned to give a curtsy to Humpty-Dumpty.

"Thank you Mr. Dumpty, I'm sorry if I disturbed you." She offered before turning and making her way down into the doorway beside of Humpty-Dumpty, followed by Naruto and the others. The doorway was short and it ended at the back, leaving only the way they came to get out.

"What was the purpose of pushing that brick anyways, I don't see anything…" Larxene mumbled and Alice gave her a look before spotting a newly opened doorway in the side of the wall. Walking over to it the girl went inside, leaving Naruto and the others to await her return. Seconds later the Cheshire cat appeared beside of the door and Tira looked at the cat strangely.

"Master, why is this cat still alive? He looks like he should've died of starvation a long time ago…" Tira noted and Cheshire gave the girl a flat look, even though it continued to grin widely.

"Only the Foolish believe that the suffering of others is just wages for being different. Only the insane equate pain with success. Only the savage regard the endurance of pain as a measure of worth." Cheshire stated towards the girl and she blinked, and then frowned in thought as she tried to comprehend what he was trying to tell her.

"Cheshire, don't try to break Tira's mind. We do kind of need her" Naruto stated with an amused smirk and the cat merely grinned while Tira scratched her head in confusion. At that moment, Alice came back out from the newly opened hole in the wall, carrying what appeared to be an old-fashioned brass and wood gun of some kind that made Cheshire grin wider than ever.

"A Blunderbuss in the hands of a blockhead is a catastrophe waiting to happen. You're no dunderhead, but exercise great care." Cheshire stated before vanishing and Alice blinked before looking to Naruto and the others.

"C'mon then, we have a queen to kill." Alice stated as her eyes twitched, a psychotic gleam entering her eyes as she did. Walking out of the short tunnel, Alice wondered over to the side and stopped when she saw a road sign, Axel snorting suddenly when he saw it.

"Well that's helpful…" The man noted and Naruto nodded his head while Alice wandered over to the side in the direction of the "Majestic Maze". Following after the girl, Naruto gave her a look as she put her Blunderbuss… somewhere… and then pulled her Vorpal Blade out from her ribbon.

"Alice where are you going?" Naruto asked seriously and the girl sighed.

"Majestic Maze is the only place I haven't been too, and if I remember correctly it was the same place I went through to get to the queen one before." The girl replied as she made her way up the path she had chosen. Spotting a turn Naruto held her back and looked over, only to grimace seeing a Card-Guard waiting to ambush them.

"We've got a Card-Guards waiting for us over there…" Naruto stated and Axel grinned as he formed his Chakrams and walked passed the two.

"Allow me to handle this." He stated with a grin and Naruto rolled his eyes, and then heard an explosion before watching as Axel came back with a grin. "Card's are all gone now." Axel stated and Naruto rolled his eyes while Alice walked passed him and further up the path, followed by the others. Walking up the path Naruto noticed several scorches around the area while Larxene glared at Axel.

"You could've saved some for me." Larxene grumbled and Axel shrugged his shoulders while Alice pulled the Jabberwock's-Eye-Staff from somewhere and held it in her hands while looking at a massive shimmering doorway. _'… only the Jabberwock's-Eye-Staff can pry them open…'_ The girl remembered Griffon saying to her before she'd freed her friend from an even more insane "Mad Hatter".

"Lets hope you were right…" Alice mumbled before pulling on the trigger of the Eye-Staff and fired at the wall, a beam of energy flowing from it before she released her hold on the trigger. Instantly a shockwave of power flew from it and slammed into the wall before them, shattering a portion of it and revealing the doorway to the Majestic Maze that had lain behind it. "Come now, we have work to do." Alice stated as she moved forward, followed by Naruto and the others, as the doorway to the Majestic Maze slowly swung open for them…

--

(??)

A familiar old man made his way into Castle Oblivion before smirking as he walked over to a black / purple energy sphere, an odd shape in the center of it. "Now that my young Apprentice has his allies, I need some of my own… for my own plans." The old man mused darkly while walking over to the sphere of energy. Holding out one hand the old man watched as the sphere of energy suddenly expanded, pulling him into its depths before revealing him to be standing on an odd, yet familiar pillar.

However, standing before him was a man, who appeared to be in his late thirties, with one yellow eye, an eyepatch over his right eye, a long jagged scar covering his left cheek, long graying black slicked back hair, and very pail skin with upturned eyebrows. He was dressed in a Dark-Cloak, black gloves, black boots with silver trim, and Hakama-esque pants like the other Nobodies of Organization XIII…

"Well well well… Braig, it's been some time." Xehanort mused while reaching up to rub his chin and Xibar blinked before grinning as he saw the old man, then held his hands to the side, revealing a pair of purple crossbow like weapons. "Wait… forgive, I forgot, you go Xigbar now, don't you?" The old man suddenly questioned and Xigbar shrugged his shoulders while holding his weapons towards him. Smirking, Xehanort held his right hand to the side as well, a familiar black and silver Keyblade appearing in his outstretched hand.

"Now then my old friend, lets see if you've grown stronger since last we battled." Xehanort uttered darkly as Xigbar grinned before vanishing, appearing in the air where he aimed his bow-casters at the old man as he took a stance with his Keyblade…

--

TBC…

--


	22. Queensland

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 21**_: _**Queensland**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Broken Wonderland…)

Naruto and his group wandered passed the doorway and into Queensland, looking around, Naruto saw that there was walls to either side of them with hedges overtop them, making it seem as if they were in a massive hedge maze of all things, glowing lights along their path that appeared like playing card suits and a beaten rock path allowing them to see which way to go. "Well at least we know where we're going." Axel noted with a shrug and Naruto rolled his eyes before walking with Alice further into the maze.

Coming to an archway, Naruto turned his head out to make sure nothing was on their way before making his way up an incline. However, the blond then cursed as two Heart-Card-Guards dropped down from the end of the incline, only for Larxene and Axel to quickly throw their weapons and impale them. Blinking as the Card-Guards fell over dead, Naruto turned to see the two nobodies were grinning in amusement.

"I could've handled them myself." Naruto stated flatly and Alice nodded her head, arms crossed over her chest.

"As could I." Alice stated simply and Axel shrugged his shoulders.

"What can we say, it's more fun for us this way." Axel rhymed and Naruto gave him a look before walking further up the incline and looking down the next bend in the path. Not seeing any more Card-Guards waiting for them Naruto waved for the others to follow as he journeyed further along the path. Turning to look down the next few paths, Naruto backed up as a Jabberspawn nearly bit his head off from the left side. Moving quickly he stabbed Dark-Heart into the Jabberspawn, forcing it to turn into a "Dark-Ball" before vanishing completely.

"Well that's one way to deal with pests." Axel noted and Naruto rolled his eyes, keeping his keyblades out encase he needed them. Turning and going down the right path, Naruto threw both Keyblades and they sliced into two more Card-Guard, spades this time… Catching his weapons as one fell over and the other turned into a Neo-Shadow, Naruto smirked while Alice frowned.

"You all do realize I'm perfectly capable of defending myself, correct?" Alice questioned of the group and Axel shrugged while Naruto gave an exasperated sigh.

"Fine, you want to fight, then you can lead on." Naruto offers while moving so the girl can walk in front of him. Nodding her head, Alice crossed her arms while walking passed the group, Naruto sighing as he followed the girl.

"Why are you putting up with this?" Larxene asked in a whisper and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Believe me, this is nothing compared to how my old team functioned. My old teammate Sakura used to physically assault me whenever I made the smallest infraction. My Former Teammate Sasuke betrayed not only me but also my entire village, and punched a hole through my chest when he did it. My other Teammate Sai, well he'd always make Penis jokes for some reason… and then came my Lazy as Hell Sensei Kakashi, he pretty much ignored Sakura and me for the most part, in order to train that lousy Teme Sasuke. And my last Sensei, who was only there to keep an eye on me. Compared to dealing with of all that, Alice is a cake walk." Naruto offered in explanation while twitching slightly, inwardly noting he was bitterer nowadays.

"That's not a team, that's a major mishap waiting to happen." Axel deadpanned and Naruto turned to him with a raised brow as they continued down a short path. "Look, I understand how teamwork is supposed to work. Organization XIII was at its best when we teamed up with one another, not when we were alone. Sure we didn't really like one another all the time, but you can't constantly antagonize one another or your Teamwork goes straight to hell. If you're more experienced than a teammate for instance, you're supposed to help them, and I'm not even going to start with traitors." Axel explained then stated with a nod of his head and Larxene snorted.

"This coming from the guy who betrayed me, Marluxia and the others…" She grumbled angrily and Axel glared at her.

"I was under orders from Xemnas! What did you expect me to do? Say no and get turned into a Dusk?!" Axel demanded of the woman and Larxene took a mock thoughtful expression for a moment.

"Didn't that happen anyways?" She questioned mockingly and Axel grit his teeth.

"That was because at the time I was helping that Sora kid deal with Xemnas!" He exclaimed while Larxene muttered something under her breath and Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose, before turning around.

"You two figure it out, I'm going to go with Alice…" Naruto stated with a dismissive wave as he walked down the path, then stopped for a moment. "Coming Tira?" He asked and the girl grinned before following after the blond haired youth. Walking down the long hall, Naruto blinked when he saw Alice standing before a very familiar red vial. "Wait a second… Haven't I seen one of those before?" He muttered in question to himself before suddenly paling as he quickly remembered what that particular vial did to Alice…

"Oh no… I remember that thing now!" Naruto exclaimed, drawing Axel and Larxene's attention, before he quickly rushed towards Alice. "Tira! C'mon we've got to stop Alice now!" Naruto ordered, getting the attention of the nobodies as he and Tira rushed towards the girl, only for the Cheshire cat to jump on the top of the vial. As soon as it did, a fine spray of red mist hit Alice head on, forcing her to her knees as she held her face, Naruto stopping instantly and holding out a hand to stop Tira as well.

"Master… what's going on?" Tira asked with a confused look then gaped as Alice's form started to shimmer red…

"How fine you look when dressed in rage." Cheshire mocked as Alice's skin turned red, horns started to grow then curl out of the sides of her head, two long curled spines grew out of her back and curled forward, the one on her left shoulder blade longer than the one on the right, and long talons grew from the fingers of her left hand. "Your enemies are fortunate that your condition is not permanent." Cheshire uttered ominously while Alice looked up, both of her eyes now glowing a bright burning red.

"And you're lucky too: Red eyes suit so few." Cheshire rhymed with a wide grin across his face before he vanished, Alice slowly standing up before pulling her Vopal-Blade from her side. Growling and showing her fanged teeth, the demonic girl jumped to the ground and twitched as several Card-Guards and a Jabberspawn came from the next bend in the path… _**'Kill, kill, kill, KILL THEM ALL!'**_ A voice exclaimed in Alice's mind as the girl lunged forward and swung her Vorpal-Blade, slicing a card in half before she grabbed a Japperspawns jaws and then ripped them up, breaking its jaw in one movement before turning to a quivering Card-Guard with wide psychotic eyes…

Looking on in a mixture of shock and awe was Axel and Larxene as the demonic Alice tossed her Vorpal-Blade at the last Card-Guard, pinning it to the stone wall behind it before trudging forward and ripping its blade out of its body. "Uh… Larxene, remind me never to get on her bad side…" Axel stated and Larxene dumbly nodded her head while Rage-Alice turned and stalked down the next path.

"We follow at a distance and exercise extreme caution, Alice isn't herself when she's like this, everything is an enemy to her." Naruto states and Axel and Larxene nod their heads mutely before Tira blinked, then grinned widely.

"Master I like this girl!" Tira proclaimed before following after the rage-empowered version of Alice.

"Why am I not surprised?" Naruto wondered with a mock thoughtful expression before following after the girl, soon followed by a still shocked Axel and Larxene. Turning right down into the next path, Naruto twitched upon seeing a trail of bodies turning into meta-essence left in Alice's wake, Tira still grinning madly as she looked on.

"I really, really, really like this girl master! Especially when she's mad!" Tira then stated and Naruto rolled his eyes, still not too surprised by that given Tira's own insanity. Spotting Alice on her knees at the end of the path, Naruto rushed down to her, and found she was panting as her body slowly returned to normal, her eyes still red for the briefest of moments before returning to their original bright emerald green.

"You okay?" Axel asked the girl and Alice looked around then rubbed her head, quite obviously confused.

"What just happened?" She asked seriously and Axel gaped at the girl before deciding it was better she not know she had just mutated into some kind of demonic beast from the bowls of hell…

"Nothing Alice. Let's just keep moving forward." Naruto stated and Alice slowly nodded her head while Naruto helped her back to her feet. Looking forward and spotting several guards, Jabberspawn, and various other creatures heading for them Alice grimaced before fishing a watch from her pocket.

"Everyone, hold hands…" She ordered and got looks from the group before sighing and doing as told. Naruto took Alice's hand last, Tira had his, and then Axel's, and Larxene reluctantly had hold of the red heads. "Good, now lets see about getting Time on our side then, shall we." She mused before clicking down on the watch; Naruto watching on in shock as the various creatures suddenly froze in place…

"You can stop time as well?!" Axel demanded and Alice smirked up at the red haired man while holding up what appeared to be a simple pocket watch.

"The Dead-Time Watch, crafted by the Mad-Hatter a man completely obsessed with time… or he was when I found him… He used to be a very dear friend of mine, I often had tea with him, though he tried to kill me this time, but then I killed him in the end." Alice mused then admitted before shaking her head, Naruto frowning at the last bit. "Now we must hurry, this doesn't last long." Alice stated and Naruto nodded his head as Alice lead them passed the beasts, two a pair of doorways, the girl quickly turning down the left one to find a mad-child watching a swirling vortex-gate.

As time came back into affect, Alice and the others released each other's hands as the girl walked over to a plate with glowing red symbols and stepped on it. As she did a metal gate opened to show the gate they needed to get through to the next area. "Alright, lets move out!" Naruto stated while rushing passed the gate, Axel, Larxene, and Tira following him. Once they were all through, Alice quickly rushed forward and then rolled under the gate as it came down. Helping her back to her feet, Alice then brushed off her dress before walking over to the gate and went through it into its depths with the others following after her…

Coming out into a large area with numerous steam vents below them, Naruto frowned before looking up as the Cheshire Cat appeared and waved a paw. "Ride the thermal drafts like a Gyrafalcon." The cat ordered and Alice slowly nodded her head before grimacing as she looked down from her spot.

"Oh my… I best be careful, I fear I wouldn't survive if I were to fall." She noted to herself before taking several steps back, then jumped forward, the two vents below and before her allowing her to safely move over to the next platform. Breathing a sigh of relief, the girl then growled as a Boojum came at her, thus quickly through her Vorpal-Blade, nailing it in the head. Looking to her side to the others, the girl then pressed onwards, assured that they could get over one their own…

"Alright, think we can jump it?" Naruto asked as he looked over the between ten and twenty feet between them and the next platform.

"Too far for those of us that can't fly to jump…" Axel noted while glaring at a smirking Larxene as she seemed to vanish, then appeared on the next platform. Giving a mocking wave goodbye, the blond woman then stuck out her tongue before following after Alice as Naruto, Axel, and Tira watched her leave…

"Right. So, what do you suggest we do then, Axel?" Naruto requested with a frown, arms crossed over his chest as he watched Alice move up and then jump out of sight with Larxene following her.

"Well, we know Alice is going to be fine with Larxene to help her… but we can't fly or glide like they can… so lets just use a Dark-Corridor to follow them." Axel mused and Naruto thought about it for a moment, and then nodded his head in agreement.

"I concur." Naruto stated before snapping his fingers, thus creating their method of travel before them while Tira blinked.

"Master… why didn't you do that before?" Tira asked while scratching her head and Naruto sighed while rubbing his temples.

"Alice hates it when I help her… so I won't help her too much unless she needs or asks for it." Naruto replied before walking into the Dark-Corridor, followed by Tira and Axel as they appeared on a platform across from their earlier position. Spotting Alice and Larxene in the distance, Naruto opened another Dark-Corridor before walking into it once more, Axel and Tira following at a sedate pace. Landing on the next platform just as Alice and Larxene did, the girls blinked before Alice scowled.

"Why didn't you mention you could teleport?" Alice demanded with a frown and Naruto smirked towards the auburn haired girl.

"Maybe because you hate it when I help you." Naruto offered and Alice gave him a fierce look before crossing her arms with a huff as she made her way up a long spiral ramp heading upwards. Shrugging his shoulders before following after the girl, Naruto watched her make her way further up the ramp before suddenly, throwing her Vorpal-blade. Blinking as she did, Naruto followed to find a Boojum dying while she pulled her blade out of it on her way further up the ramp.

"Hmm… she's gotten better…" Naruto noted to himself before turning to see Axel and Larxene were on either side of Tira, using the girl as a sort of divider… _'And I thought Axel said he didn't antagonize his partners…'_ Naruto thought to himself before rolling his eyes, figuring that the two just got on one another's nerves. Turning back around, Naruto saw Alice kill another Boojum before quickly jumping over a thermal vent and started gliding over to the next platform, this one only five feet across.

Smirking slightly, Naruto then went as far back as he could before jumping over as well just as Alice finished dealing with the next Boojum. Landing with a plop, the boy then turned and watched as Tira and Axel both jumped over while Larxene teleported. "Why is this place so annoyingly complicated?" Axel questioned while rubbing his temples and Alice rolled her eyes.

"Wonderland was always a little odd, now that it's broken its just a little insane." She replied before turning on one heel and making her way up another ramp to a doorway, followed by Naruto and his group. Walking through the hallways, Naruto and the other's followed Alice down a couple of turns before coming out on the other side of the steam room. Looking up, Naruto smirked when he saw the next Vortex-Gate was above them.

"Looks like we're almost home free." Naruto mused aloud before throwing his Dark-Heart Keyblade, turning a Boojum into a Dark-Ball. Blinking for a moment, Alice turned to him as he caught his Keyblade in hand and leaned it into his shoulder. "What? I was bored of you having all the fun." Naruto stated with a shrug of his shoulders and Alice rolled her eyes before wandering up the next ramp.

"Honestly, this isn't a game, your not supposed to be having fun." Alice reminded and Naruto felt a catty smile twist his lips.

"Sometimes Alice, you need to lighten the load on yourself a bit, or else the weight of the world will come falling down on top of you." Naruto offered with a smirk and Alice blinked before turning to him with a raised brow.

"You just channeled Cheshire Puss again." She stated and Naruto blinked before rubbing his temples and walking passed the girl with a shake of his head.

"I swear, that cat is invading my mind…" Naruto grumbled before stabbing Dark-Heart to the side as another Boojum appeared, turning it into a Dark-Ball as he passed. "Lets go already… I'd like to reach this queen before we die of old age." Naruto grumbled out and Alice smiled strangely before following the youth, followed by Tira and the two Nobodies, Axel and Larxene. Coming to the end of the ramp after dispatching one last Boojum, Naruto grunted upon seeing dozens of thermal vents heading off to the side as a path.

"Great, I hate this place…" Naruto muttered to himself while Alice leaned forward before nodding her head.

"Well, I'll be off then." She stated before jumping over to the first Thermal Vent then making her way along their path. Smirking, Larxene jumped into the air before seeming to fly after Alice at breakneck speed, leaving Axel, Naruto, and Tira behind once more. Sighing, Naruto opened a Dark-Corridor to follow the two, and then motioned for Tira and Axel to walk through first. Following the two into the portal, they soon came out with Larxene and Alice as the two girls landed nearby.

Not sparing Naruto or the other's a word; Alice walked along the platform to the side and killed a Boojum before stopping before a series of Thermal Vents that ran upwards along the wall. "Oh dear, this is really becoming a bother…" Alice said to herself with a frown before turning to see Naruto and the others walking her way. Sighing, the girl then turned to Naruto, while placing her hands on her hips. "Alright, I'll ask, make a portal to the next platform, we'll never get to the queen at this pace." She stated and Naruto rolled his eyes before snapping his fingers.

A Dark-Corridor opened up beside the girl, and she nodded her head before walking into it, followed by the others as they came out on the next Platform, Larxene throwing a knife and killing a Boojum once they did. Seeing the others looking at her Larxene blinked before frowning. "What? I can't want to have some fun either?" She asked seriously and Naruto rolled his eyes before walking down a ramp to another doorway with a frown.

"I'm starting to sense a pattern here…" Naruto mumbled while walking through a u shaped hall and stopped before the next Vortex-Gate. "Scratch that I was wrong." Naruto mused while looking at the gate and Alice nodded her head in agreement before walking into the gate, followed by Naruto and the others. Coming out in another Hedge-Maze, Naruto grunted before looking to see an equally annoyed Alice.

"This place is so bothersome. I much preferred it back when everyone was simply mad." The girl stated while crossing her arms and nodding her head, Naruto rubbing his temples before walking forward.

"Lets just get through this maze and kick the crap out of the guy who built this place later." Naruto offered, getting a "Here, Here" from Axel as they walked into the first part of the maze. Walking forward and turning, Naruto spotted a crossroads up ahead before two Jabberspawn popped up. Cursing, Naruto quickly pulled his keyblades from his back and lunged forward and swung his weapons through the creatures. Instantly turning one Jabebrspawn into a Neo-Shadow, while the other turned grey and died.

Letting out a breath, he then turned to see a ghost like creature coming down on them, only for Alice to quickly kill it. Smirking and turning, Alice then walked passed Naruto and down the right path of the crossroads. "How do you know where we're going?" Naruto questioned and Alice crossed her arms and turned to give him a look.

"Wonderland has changed a great deal, but I remember this maze very well." She stated and Naruto rolled his eyes while following after the girl. Following her down and then turning left and into a short heart shaped tunnel the group found 2 Jabberspawn and 3 Heart-Card-Guards waiting for them. "Alright, everyone pick one." Naruto stated as he eyed a card-Guard, Alice and Tira doing likewise while Axel and Larxene lunged at the pair of Jabberspawn. Lunging at his Card-Guard, Naruto evaded as it stabbed its spear forward, then stabbed into it with Dark-Heart, leaving a Neo-Shadow in its wake.

Alice in the meantime, rolled out of the way as her Card-Guard fired at her, and then quickly threw her Vorpal-Blade into it. Grunting, The Card-Guard was forced back a pace before firing at Alice again, the girl merely rolling out of the way. Roaring out, the Card-Guard lunged at the girl, Alice smirking as she pulled her Mallet from somewhere and then bashed the Card-Guards head in when he was too close. Reaching down she then pulled her blade out of the Card-Guard and wiped some blood onto her pinafore before absorbing its Meta-Essence.

Nearby, Tira giggled as she flipped over a shot from her own Card-Guard, then expertly dodged before twisting on one heel and throwing her Ring-Blade. The weapon sung through the air, but the Card-Guard quickly rolled out of the way. Turning to Tira it snarled only to see her snort and then snicker into one hand, blinking, the guard turned only for his head to come off. Tira's Ring-Blade, having bounced off a wall behind the guard before taking his head off, then returned to its mistress hand, the girl then frowning towards the guard.

"Aww… you got to die so peacefully." She complained while crossing her arms, Ring-Blade slung over one shoulder. With Axel and Larxene, the two Nobodies easily dodged and evaded the attacks by the two Jabberspawn.

"Alright! Lets really turn up the heat!" Axel cried before pulling in his Chakrams, the weapons spinning around him while Larxene formed three copies as she and they giggled while circling around the two Jabberspawn. Instantly, Axel expelled a burst of fire from his body outwards while Larxene fired beams of Lightning inwards, slamming both fire and lightning into the Jabberspawn before nothing but ash and Meta-Essence was left of the two creatures…

"Ha! This is too easy." Larxene boasted while landing on the ground, her clones vanishing beside her.

"Right. Now which way do we go?" Naruto wondered while looking around and Alice looked down to a pool of water. "Oh you've got to be kidding me…" Naruto muttered while Alice smiled nervously.

"How long can you hold your breath?" She asked, since she was technically an "Honorary-Reptile" thanks to her friend "The Mock Turtle" and could hold her breath for a fairly long while…

--

(Castle-Oblivion…)

Xehanort rolled out of the way and then started running as Xigbar fired rapid-fire bolts of energy towards him. Xigbar himself was smirking as he fired blast after blast at the man before groaning when his weapons stopped. "R for Reload." He said with a smirk and Xehanort quickly ran towards him, jumping into the air and rapidly swinging his Keyblade, sending Xigbar flying back. Cursing, Xigbar manipulated space to teleport, still upside down he spun his weapons in hand. Vanishing once more, Xigbar appeared on the ground and then stuck his twin Arrowguns together before twisting one and creating a makeshift sniper riffle.

"Gotcha now!" He exclaimed while vanishing and appearing near the back of the area, Xehanort twitching as he did. _'I guess something's never change.'_ He mused before ducking out of the way as Xigbar fired on him. Watching as Xigbar fired once more, Xehanort moved quickly, knocking the bolts back at the Nobodie. Grunting as they hit, Xigbar placed a hand onto his right arm, smirking despite himself. "Cleaver little sneak." He muttered before vanishing, then reappearing upside down and fired at Xehanort once more.

Twisting on his heel, Xehanort blocked the attacks, sending the bolts flying back into Xigbar and causing him to loose his grip on his weapons. Moving quickly Xehanort jumped up and started to slash at Xigbar with his Keyblade, knocking the old Nobody back until he smirked. Snapping his fingers to recall his weapons he then vanished before the field around them suddenly shifted to one long plane. "Take this!" He shouted while firing a single large darkness empowered bolts from his weapons that bounced around the area around them.

Chuckling in his throat, Xehanort moved quickly, slamming his key into the bolt and sending it flying into Xigbar. Grunting as it hit him, Xigbar watched as the bolt bounced away, only for Xehanort to appear where it was and send it flying at him once more before it bounced away. Teleporting, Xigbar mentally groaned as Xehanort hit the bolt one final time and it slammed into him before bouncing off once more. Shaking his head, Xigbar smirked as he looked towards Xehanort. "So what do ya think?" He questioned as he changed the field around them once more, then appeared and fired down on Xehanort from above.

Grunting, Xehanort stumbled back from where the bolts hit and then twisted on his heel to send the next few bolts back at Xigbar. Grunting and shaking his head, Xigbar grinned and threw his arms to the side. "Okay! Now we're talking!" Xigbar exclaimed as he began to glow and the arena around them changed once more, leaving only a single area around Xehanort. "Look what came for ya!" Xigbar exclaimed as he appeared outside of the area and started shooting inwards towards Xehanort. Thinking quickly, Xehanort jumped to the far left corner of the small arena and began to run to evade the hail of fire coming down on him.

As Xigbar suddenly disappeared, Xehanort looked around for the man only to curse and run when he appeared above him. "Lets see how you dance!" Xigbar exclaimed while bringing his arms down and conjuring a spray of fire from out of thin air. Xehanort cursed under his breath at this and quickly ran from the arrow-bullets coming down at him from out of the air itself. As the attack finally ended a flash of light appeared and Xehanort lunged at Xigbar once more, jumping up and repeatedly slamming his keyblade into the man before knocking him to the ground…

"I lost… me?" Xigbar wondered to himself with a groan before looking up towards Xehanort as dark energy spiraled around the man's body. Xigbar couldn't help but smirk as the young Xehanort stopped before him and pushed his hood back from his face. "So… are you Terra? Or the Master?" Xigbar questioned as he vanished, turning into a bright light while Xehanort reached into his cloak. Removing two older model Arrowguns from his cloak he held them out and allowed Xigbar's power to implant itself into the weapons…

"I don't really know anymore." Xehanort finally answered while looking at the weapons as they turned into Xigbar's own arrowguns, then placed them into his cloak. "Perhaps, I'm both and neither… or maybe I'm just someone else entirely." He mused mostly to himself as he walked away, opening a Dark-Corridor as he wandered into its depths and away from Castle-Oblivion and its many secrets…

--

(Broken-Wonderland…)

Naruto was not having a fun time, he and Alice had been pulling switches and opening doors underwater for far too long. Heading down yet another pipe, the blond gasped as he started to lose his breath. Looking around, Alice dragged him over to a patch of air bubbles while inhaling them and then kissing him to breathe them into his mouth. _'Though I wonder if she really needs to kiss me for this… eh, worse things could happen.'_ Naruto mused to himself before giving a thumbs up to Alice.

Currently the girl had undergone a rather surprising transformation, not as apparent as her normal "Rage" transformation however. She now seemed to have a reptilian hide for skin, though it still felt the same it didn't wrinkle no matter how long they were underwater, also she had a slight webbing to her hands, but it was transparent, making it nearly invisible to any who saw it, her eyes were bright yellow now, and a small blue transparent magical turtle shell rested on her back, all of which marked her as an honorary reptile.

'_You know, I bet the story behind how that happened is pretty interesting.'_ Naruto mused as Alice and he swam further threw the pipe underwater, passed several fans before Alice came down into a patch of bubbles and pulled him with her. Breathing some more air into the blond, solely to keep him alive, or at least that's what she told herself, Alice then pointed up and Naruto nodded his head. Swimming up with the girl they stopped seeing a broken fan then quickly swam up passed the broken blades and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as they came up at long last.

"I hate it underwater…" Naruto mumbled while hitting the side of his head as if to knock some water from his ears.

"I don't mind it. Actually, it's rather nice." Alice admitted while climbing out of the water, her shell, webbing, and eyes either vanishing or returning to normal as she stretched and looked up.

"Yeah well… I have bad memories featuring a mad scientist turning this really nice girl into a fish human hybrid." Naruto said with a frown and Alice blinked before looking to him apologetically.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" She said and Naruto waved her off while pulling himself out of the water and shook his body.

"Don't worry, Baa-chan was looking for a way to return her to normal last time I saw her… though I have to wonder what happened to her since…" Naruto started to say then stopped when he realized what probably happened to her, and the rest of his friends thanks to the Heartless… _'More like the Soulless, they've driven the Heartless to attack Dark-Worlds in order to fight them off…'_ Naruto inwardly grumbled, eyes turning yellow for a moment before he felt Alice's hand on his shoulder.

"Are you going to be alright?" The girl asked him kindly and Naruto gave her a wide grin in response.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking too much. Let's go already, I'd really like to leave before I become permanently waterlogged." Naruto stated while getting to his feet and climbed his way up to the top of the next platform. Frowning as she watched him go, Alice slowly followed him, Jumping surprisingly high considering she wore heels. Pulling Alice onto the top of the platform, he and Alice looked to a large switch hanging down from the ceiling and quickly jumped on it, raising the water level even higher. As soon as they did, blue almost piranha like fish with legs, which Alice and Ceshire called "Snarks" started jumping at them and biting.

Cursing, Naruto batted one away while Alice cut one down behind him, the Snarks then circling them hungrily. "Well this could be a problem." Naruto noted and Alice reached into her pocket and pulled the Dead-Time-Watch free before looking to the blond and taking his hand.

"We don't have time to play with them, so lets make a little extra." Alice offered and pressed down on the watch, time slowing, then stopping around them.

"Have I ever said I love that watch?" Naruto asked with a grin and Alice smirked slightly towards the blond haired boy.

"No, I don't believe you have." She replied before pulling Naruto after her and jumping back into the water. Taking a gulp of air before he fell into the water with Alice, Naruto swam with the girl while mentally sighing. _'Back into the drink…'_ He thought to himself while they swam their way under an arch quickly then surface for air while swimming passed frozen snarks to a newly opened pipe. Swimming inside the two looked down to see a swirling vortex-gate and then swam down into it.

The two came out in another portion of the hedge maze and both breathed sighs of relief. "Finally, now to get the others." Naruto muttered while forming a Dark-Corridor before him and Alice, Tira jumping through and pouncing the blond when he did.

"Well its about time, do you know how long we were waiting on you guys?" Larxene demanded while walking through with a scowl, Axel smirking as he saw Tira straddling a twitching Naruto.

"Master! Why didn't you let me come? I could've helped!" Tira insisted while Alice growled angrily, her eyes narrowed on the girl.

"Now see here, I don't rightly care if your insane or not but it is very rude to jump on people like that. I must insist that you extricate yourself from him immediately!" Alice insisted while glaring at the girl, somewhat wondering why she wanted to cut Tira's head off for being on top of the teen.

"But master doesn't mind, do you master?" Tira said then questioned and Naruto mentally groaned before slapping his face.

"Tira, get off…" He ordered flatly and the girl did so without question. "And as for the reason we didn't bring you, your weapon swings in a wide arc and might've hit us if you used it. Your weapon is also very heavy, making it more difficult for you to swim with us. And finally you can't hold your breath as long as she can, and I've stayed underwater for quite a while a few times." Naruto listed with a frown and Tira took a thoughtful expression before nodding her head.

"Thank you master, I'm sorry for questioning you. It won't ever happen again." Tira offered with a bow of her head while Tira walked over and looked around the area before frowning.

"Anyone here especially like the idea of trying to jump across lava pits?" Alice then asked and the others rushed over to look down, all but Axel grimacing. Below them was a long river of lava, gears and small islands making a path to the next area where a Card-guard was waiting for them.

"Lets just use a Dark-Corridor." Naruto mumbled but Axel jumped forward and landed on top of the lava below them.

"You guys go ahead and do that, me, I'm going to have a little fun!" He shouted before lunging at the Card-Guard with a grin. Sighing, Naruto rubbed his face before forming a Dark-Corridor around them, all four of them appearing as Axel killed the Heart-Card-Guard and grinned.

"Having fun?" Larxene questioned with a frown and Axel shrugged with a smirk, the excess heat around them increasing his own powers greatly. Shaking her head with a frown, Alice walked away from the two and climbed onto a raised section to the side. Coming up on it, she made her way further into this new area, Naruto and the others following her. Seeing two Boojums coming their way, Axel grinned before quickly throwing his twin flaming Chakrams at them, killing them both instantly. Frowning once more, Alice gave a glare to the red haired man as he caught his weapons with a smirk.

"Honestly now, I don't need your assistance to deal with monsters sir. So please allow me to handle them." Alice insisted before walking to the end of the hall, and then jumped down on a protruding portion below her. Seeing the lava below her, Alice then took a breath before jumping to the next protruding area before climbing up onto the next raised area. Turning she expected to see Naruto and the others only to blink seeing that they were no longer there.

"Hey Alice!" Naruto called and the girl turned and saw them heading threw a doorway. "You coming or not?" Naruto quipped and the girl mentally sighed while rubbing her temples and following the odd group. Coming into a room with a large turning pillar and steam flowing up towards the roof with a short ramp nearby, the group made their way up the ramp before jumping across a turning platform and into the next hallway. Making their way through it the group came to a doorway that opened for them, revealing a room with turning gears and twisting pillars, a strange circular object before them having the only way through.

"Great, now things are going to get even tougher." Larxene noted with a flat tone and Axel looked around with a frown.

"I kind of miss the lava, it made me stronger." Axel mumbled while Larxene shrugged before dragging the man forward and threw him through the opening in the turning object. Grunting as he landed, Axel then looked up and cursed while rolling out of the way as a robot with spikes lashed out at him. "Okay, what the hell is this?!" Axel demanded as the steam-driven machine came at him once more, forming his Chakrams at his sides the man threw them forward, slamming them into the robot and causing it to back up before lunging forward once more

Wondering why he got stuck with an annoying one, Axel waited for it to get close, only to curse as it fired a rocket at him. Rolling to the side before coming up into a crouch, Axel spun his Chakrams at his sides, fire gathering over them before he through them forward, taking the robots head off before it exploded. Growling and turning around Axel glared at a smirking Larxene even as the disk turned, the doorway vanishing into the wall beside it. "Dammit Larxene what the hell was that for!?" Axel demanded and Larxene rolled her eyes before jumping through the disk as it came back around and gave a pointed look to Axel.

"Stop complaining." She stated simply while Naruto hopped through the disk and watched Axel glare at the girl. _'Alright… they really need to work on getting along better.'_ Naruto thought to himself while Tira and Alice came through the disk as well, Alice walking ahead of the two nobodies. Seeing another disk with a doorway in it, Alice hopped through, followed by the others while a mechanical doorway opened before them.

"Ready then everyone?" Alice questioned and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"As we'll ever be, lets just hurry and move out, Alice." Naruto commented simply and Alice nodded her head before hurrying forward with the rest of the group hot on her trail…

--

(Radiant-Garden…)

Kakashi sat on top of one of the battlements around Radiant-Garden looking out over this world. _'To see other worlds, and explore the stars in the sky… that was always your dream, wasn't it Obito. You only ever told me and Rin about it… and I made fun of you for it.'_ Kakashi thought to himself only to close his eye while looking down on the strange yet amazing world. _'I took your eye, and now, I'm living your dream… Kami must really have hated you.'_ Kakashi thought to himself before blinking when he heard something and turned to see Sakura.

The two had been allowed to roam around this world for the most part; a few areas were still cut off for reasons of security. Regardless, Kakashi and Sakura had both wandered over the world, meeting strange people and seeing wonders unlike anything they had ever imagined. _'Magic… real magic, to think it exists.'_ Kakashi thought to himself before eye smiling towards Sakura.

"Ma ma, what do you need Sakura?" The man questioned while the Pinkette sat beside him and then wrapped her arms over her legs.

"Nothing Sensei… I just wanted some company." Sakura replied while looking down on the world beside of the man and Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Sensei, what do you think happened to Konoha?" Sakura then asked while looking to Kakashi and the man crossed his arms with a thin frown under his mask.

"According to Leon, once a world is consumed by Darkness, it is either changed into something twisted, like this world once was, or it's pulled into and then consumed by Darkness." Kakashi replied, seeing no reason to lie to the girl, not when he's got anything to gain by lying to her. Sighing dejectedly, Sakura placed her chin onto her knees while looking over the world, then closed her eyes for a moment.

"The… what happened to our friends?" Sakura wondered and Kakashi was silent, not wishing to delve into what may have happened to those that had still been there… let alone Naruto's fate. "Sensei, do you think anyone else made it off our world?" Sakura wondered and Kakashi hummed in thought for a moment, rubbing his chin before shrugging his shoulders once more.

"It wouldn't surprise me, but I'd have to guess that they landed somewhere other than here if they did." Kakashi mused and Sakura frowned before looking to the distance, and then frowned upon seeing a dark, twisted tower in the distance.

"Kakashi-Sensei, what's that?" Sakura wondered and Kakashi frowned while standing up and looking towards the dark tower.

"I'm not sure…" He admitted with a frown and Sakura stood up as well.

"Should we go check it out?" Sakura wondered and Kakashi cupped his chin with a thoughtful expression across his face.

"Perhaps… it is something for us to do around here at the least." Kakashi mused mostly to himself then nodded his head. "Alright Sakura, we're going to check this out." Kakashi stated before jumping to the ground, Sakura following him as he ran towards the odd dark-tower…

--

(Broken-Wonderland…)

Naruto groaned as they came through another Vortex-Gate only to see large clockwork like area. "Great, a giant clock." Naruto muttered to himself as the others came through the gate behind him. Looking around the area with a frown, Alice then turned and looked around when she heard a familiar sound. Blinking and looking up, the girl smiled when she saw The Cheshire cat sitting on a platform across and above them.

"Time to jump in, Time to through, Time to… I'm dizzy." The cat said then mumbled with a paw on his head, Naruto looking to Alice who shrugged her shoulders.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again. That is one seriously strange cat." Naruto stated and got nods of agreement from all but Tira.

"I like him." Tira stated with a wide smile on her face and Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. _'Again, why am I not surprised?'_ Naruto wondered to himself before looking to the others and jumping onto the first part of the "Machinations" of the giant clock they'd found themselves in. Jumping from cog to gear and soon reaching the platform the cat had been, Naruto groaned seeing the other pieces spinning and twirling upwards. Jumping forward and onto a rising gear with the others, they waited before running onto a nearby piece and waited for it to rise. Spotting a doorway to a hall in the wall, the group ran into it and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"Please let that be it…" Naruto mumbled quietly and Axel snorted.

"With this place its never that easy." The red haired man stated and Alice nodded her head in agreement. Walking to the next room, Naruto gaped upon seeing numerous turning peddles, spinning gears, and rising and falling devices all throughout the room, the doorway to the next hall visible across and above them.

"Oh screw this, everyone figure out a way over, I'm done!" Naruto grumbled before picking up Alice, causing the girl to yelp as he lunged forward. Jumping forward, Naruto landed on a pedal and quickly jumped to the next and the next before landing on the ground and quickly moving to the next pedestal. Lunging forward Naruto jumped onto a turning object and lunged forward, onto the next pedal and rode it up. Jumping onto the turning gear, Naruto ran across it and jumped into the hallway with a frown. Turning to the others he watched Larxene teleport over, a hand on both Axel and Tira's shoulders as she did.

"C'mon." Naruto stated only for Alice to poke him in the head. "What?" Naruto demanded and Alice gave him a flat look.

"Put. Me. Down." She ordered while crossing her arms and the blond rolled his eyes before doing as asked. Brushing off her dress, Alice then gave Naruto a cross look as she placed her hands on her hips. "I thought I told you never to do that again." Alice reminded and Naruto snorted while crossing his arms.

"Yeah, well sorry but this place is starting to piss me off." Naruto retorted and Alice blushed at the language before frowning at the teen.

"And what have I said about such vulgar language?" She asked and Naruto mocked her for a moment before walking away. Huffing, Alice followed after the blond while Larxene nickered into one hand, Axel grinned in amusement and Tira wondered what was so funny. Walking down the hall the group soon came to another opening and Naruto gaped at what he saw, that being and even larger room with even more turning gears, cogs and the like…

"Oh you have got to be shitting me…" Naruto stated before shaking his head and narrowing his eyes on a large gear near the top of the room. "I'm making a Dark-Corridor, I'm sick of jumping to everything in my path." Naruto grumbled while opening a Dark-Corridor and walking into it, followed by Alice and the others. Falling out onto the largest gear in the room, the group ran forward over it upon seeing a Vortx-Gate across from it, a device slamming into the gear as it turned their only way over to it.

"Alright, we have to be precise when we go for it." Axel stated and then lunged forward, followed by the others. Breathing a sigh of relief the group walked along the device before jumping to the ground before the looking to one another.

"Everyone alright?" Naruto asked and got nods from the group. "Good, then lets get the hell out of this madhouse." Naruto grumbled, Alice mentally agreeing with him as they walked through the Vortex-Gate, only to come out in an area with a large rock pillar before them, a bridge leading to it from two sides, a massive red gate of some kind on the opposite side of the pillar, and lava circling around the pillar on all sides. However, Griffon was also on the pillar, and across from him was the one eyed Jabberwocky, both staring each other down.

Soon, both creatures flapped their wings and rose up into the air before lunging at each other. Griffon bit into the Jabberwocky's neck and started to swing his clawed paws at the beast's vulnerable neck. The Jabberwocky hissed in pain before breathing fire down Griffon's back, burning him. Grunting and pushing off of one another the two took to the skies once more. Zipping into the air and evading a slash from the Jabberwocky, Griffon soon turned and went flying straight at it. Seeing him coming, the Jabberwocky flew above Griffon and breathed fire down along his back once more.

Crying out in pain, Griffon flew away from the Jabberwocky before turning into a circle. Passing by one another Jabberwocky and Griffon then turned and aimed for one another, the Jabberwocky holding out his lower talons towards the massive beast. Slamming into Griffon from the front, Jabberwocky dragged his back toes sharp talons along Griffon's shoulders before piercing the base of both of Griffon's wings. Griffon cried out in pain once more, only for the Jabberwocky to raise both of his arms and then slam them into Griffon's head sending him flying down and into the ground on his back, helpless and bleeding profusely from his wounds.

Gasping, Alice quickly ran over to her friend, followed by Naruto and the others while the Jabberwocky then destroyed the bridge behind them. "Shit! Him again!" Axel grumbled while Alice knelt by the wounded Griffon as he looked towards where the Jabberwocky landed and narrowed his sole remaining eye.

"**How typical how foolish you were to think you could overcome your guilt."** The Jabberwocky rumbled out darkly, Alice gritting her teeth and glaring at the foul creature with murderous intent clear in her eyes.

"You foul, odious, unscrupulous monster! I don't know where you came from, nor what dark abyss you slithered out of! But I promise you, for hurting my dear friend Griffon, I'll have your head!" Alice stated angrily while clenching the Vorpal-Blade in her hand tightly, Naruto pulling his Keyblades from his back while the others prepared for the Jabberwocky as well.

"**Even with your words and your little friends, there is nothing you can do to overcome me, you cannot hope to overcome your guilt!"** The Jabberwocky insisted before roaring as he flew into the air, Alice narrowing her eyes as they took on a psychotic, murderous light once more. The Jabberwocky was the first to start the fight as he breathed out fire towards them, the group sans Axel avoiding it. Grinning widely, Axel allowed the fire to consume him, his own flames glowing brightly as he felt his power increase.

"Oh yeah!" Axel exclaimed before slamming his foot into the ground and throwing his hands to the sides. Fire rising up around his body as his Chakrams formed into his hands. "Have a look at this!" Axel then exclaimed while throwing his Chakrams at the Jabberwocky. Grunting, the beast evaded that only for Axel to grin while calling them back he then threw them at an upward angle. This time the weapons hit the Jabberwocky in the chin while returning to Axel's hands as he then threw them from the sides, slamming them into the beast's sides and forcing it to the ground.

Grinning as the Jabberwocky hit the ground Larxene then decided to make her own move as well. "Lightning!" She exclaimed as several bolts of lightning came from the sky and repeatedly slammed into the Jabberwocky. "I'll break you!" She exclaimed while moving quickly then teleported, appearing before the Jabberwocky and slashing at it with her knives. Vanishing and doing so once more before vanishing and doing it again Larxene finished by bringing both her arms up, the Jabberwocky roaring out in pain as she slashed him along his neck then flipped back with a grand bow.

Taking this as her chance, Tira lunged at the Jabberwocky from behind, and then spun in the air before throwing her ringblade down at its back as it was getting up. Crying out in pain the Jabberwocky was forced back into the ground while Tira landed on him. Giggling to herself, Tira hopped onto the side of her ringblade before kicking it to the side and spinning into the beasts back. The Jabberwocky roared out in pain once more as Tira dug into its back then flipped off its back and sliced its neck while landing before it with a wide psychotic smile.

Growling in fury, The Jabberwocky lashed out with a single taloned hand, knocking Tira to the side before flapping his damaged wings and lifted himself up into the air. Flying and evading several fireballs from Axel and bolts of Lightning from Larxene, the Jabberwocky descended on Alice and breathed out a blast of fire towards her. Moving quickly, Naruto grabbed the girl and got her out of the way of the flames as they bounced along the ground. Growling as he watched this the Jabberwocky narrowed his sole remaining eye and flew straight towards the two.

Smirking, Naruto reared his two Keyblades back before throwing both forward, slamming them into the Jabberwocky's head and forcing him to pull up. Catching his Keyblades as they returned Naruto noticed Axel was laughing. "Hey, is it just me or is this thing way weaker than last time?" Axel wondered aloud as the Jabberwocky flew over them and Larxene smirked.

"He's lost his zapping eye, so he has a blind spot, he's lost tons of blood by now, and he was probably pretty tired from fighting that Griffon. I'd say he'd be weaker Axel." Larxene replied before giggling as she forced several bolts of lightning to come down around her, one hitting the Jabberwocky's back and making him cry out. Giggling once more, the woman then vanished before three of her appeared in the air, all three lunging and swinging their knives into the Jabberwocky while one spun above him then came down with a lightning coated fist to the beasts spine.

Crying out in pain the beast fell to the ground once more and then looked up to see Axel. Grinning the Nobody had his Chakrams spiral around his body before a wall of fire slammed into the Jabberwocky knocking it back. Panting and slowly getting back to its feet, the Jabberwocky looked on as Axel and Larxene then backed up, Tira lunging forward and spinning in her ring blade, slicing down his spine. Seeing his own time, Naruto lunged at the Jabberwocky before raising a hand, a fist made of shadows rising up and grabbing it by its tail. Smirking, the blond then brought his hand down, the shadow arm thus slamming the Jabberwocky into the ground.

Groaning in pain and pushing itself up, the bleeding, slowly dieing Jabberwocky slowly stumbled its way towards Alice. **"Y-you… you know you cannot destroy me… so you have these fools do it for you… c-coward."** The jabberwocky uttered while Alice merely glared at the beast before stowing her Vorpal-Blade into her pinafore's ribbon and then reached back to pull her Blunderbuss free.

"It's not cowardice that I have. I have friends, friends willing to help me through my troubles. And you are but one less trouble for me now." Alice stated before firing her Blunderbuss into the Jabberwocky forcing it back and to the ground.

"Nice once." Larxene commented with a smirk and Alice silently put her Blunderbuss away while pulling her Vorpal-Blade from her ribbon once more.

"Man, we sure showed that freak didn't we." Axel commented while Alice suddenly turned, the Jabberwocky on its feet, wings sparking as they started to fall apart. However, the beast sneered and then roared as he lunged forward, straight for Alice.

"**You will never escape me! You can never escape your guilt!"** The furious Jabberwocky exclaimed and Alice narrowed her eyes. The others quickly made a wall between Alice and the beast and Alice frowned.

"Stand down." She told the others as the Jabberwocky came ever closer to her. Flipping her Vorpal-Blade in hand Alice then threw the weapon and with a snicker-snack, the Jabberwocky was still. The Vorpal-Blade landed behind it, blood flowing from its blade while Alice gave a disturbing smile to the beast.

"**Urgh… so… twice now… I am felled by that wretched blade…"** The beast gurgled out before its head fell from its neck, the rest of its body falling forward while Alice walked over to the creature's head and picked it up with a grin across her face.

"One-two! One-two! And through and through, the Vorpal-Blade went Snicker-Snack! I left it dead, and with its head, I went galumphing back." Alice rhymed while remembering an old poem about the Jabberwocky from her youth. Smiling in a slightly psychotic manor, the girl then looked the dead Jabberwocky in the eye. "I told you I'd have your head." She stated darkly before throwing the head over her shoulder and hurried over to Griffon, Naruto looking more than a little disturbed by her actions.

"Think we should worry about that?" Axel wondered aloud only to get ribbed by both Tira and Larxene.

"Hell no! The "Proper Little Lady" is finally starting to be fun!" Larxene stated and Tira nodded her head, both Axel and Naruto grimacing.

"Oh great, three of them…" Axel muttered while Naruto rubbed his temples, and then went after Alice as she knelt beside of Griffon.

"You've destroyed her guardian, Alice, and avenged my impending death…" Griffon said as he felt his eyes start to close, only to force them to stay open and himself to remain conscious. "Now go… fight in the ultimate battle." Griffon urged and Alice looked at him before looking down at her hands.

"Must I fight on? Can't the red-queen be persuaded to surrender?" Alice questioned and Larxene mumbled something about the "Fun-Alice" being gone.

"True words and logic rarely defeat evil intent. She is still strong." Griffon offered before seeming to grimace in pain, the position on his back obviously not helping him. "And so many have been harmed. They want revenge, which we call justice." Griffon said and Naruto scoffed, crossing his arms as he looked at the exchange silently. "She made this world, and she must pay. You must lead our forces against her." Griffon explained before groaning as his head feel down, Alice reaching out and raising his head to look into his dimming azure blue eyes.

"I'm not sure I know how to lead." She mumbled and Griffon gave his equivalent of a smile as his eyes dimmed further.

"Do your best. Alice, you can only do your best. You can always do… best…" Griffon managed to get out before his body stilled and he drew his last breath. Feeling tears in her eyes, Alice placed her head against Griffon's as they fell down her cheeks and into his feathers and fur.

"Goodbye my friend." She whispered before slowly standing up and turning to see the odd gate from before dropping a drawbridge, Cheshire appearing beside it.

"You ready Alice?" Naruto asked and the girl nodded her head before walking over to the bridge, stopping to look at Cheshire.

"Without Griffon, our forces are leaderless and a battle has begun. Deliver us from this peril or let us perish." Cheshire explained while looking to Alice as she gave a silent nod as he vanished once more and then walked up a ramp towards two metal-doors. Meta-Essence rained down on her as she approached the massive doors, a heart shaped arch around them.

"If the queen wants my head… Then I'll have to take her own instead." She mumbled in verse to herself as her normally bright emerald green eyes, slowly started to take on a familiar golden-amber color…

--

TBC…

--

AN: The Verse Alice used about the Vorpal-Blade is from the original poem about the Jabberwocky, seemed appropriate so I had her speak it. And I still haven't picked a pairing yet, the choices that several people seem to like are: Tira, Larxene, Alice, Seras, and Xion. One I'm contemplating at the moment however is Aqua from BBS, given she seems to have been closer to Ventus than even Terra, though that won't happen, if at all, for quite a while…


	23. Fall of the Queen

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 22**_: _**Fall of the Queen**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Villain's-Vale…)

Kakashi and Sakura walked towards a massive almost castle like fortress with twisted towers and eerie vines crawling along its surface. "What is this place Kakashi-Sensei?" Sakura wondered as a shiver ran up her spine, Kakashi frowning as he walked towards a doorway. Looking at the door silently for a moment, Kakashi frowned while reaching out to it then pulled his hand back as the vines wrapped over it tighter than before.

"Stand back, Sakura." Kakashi ordered and the girl quickly backed away while Kakashi took steps back and then ran forward, ramming into the door and knocking it down completely. Narrowing his eye he then walked inside to find a great hall like one would see for a castle. Walking forward, followed by Sakura, Kakashi looked to both side of the room with a frown, wondering what the place was.

"Sensei, I've got a really bad feeling about this place." Sakura said worriedly while looking around and Kakashi was silent for a moment.

"It's an empty fortress Sakura, there's nothing here." Kakashi stated and Sakura looked around worriedly before following next to Kakashi. Wondering further into the great hall, Kakashi raised a brow upon seeing a sword stabbed into the ground before them. The sword was jet black and appeared like the open wing of a dragon, the pointed tip of the wing pointing down, the inner membrane was crimson red with a blue cat eye gem centered at the guard, four clips of some sort on either side of the gem, a black leather wrapped handle with an almost arrow shaped pommel cap… (Souleater…)

"K-Kakashi sensei, what is that?" Sakura wondered and Kakashi blinked before shrugging his shoulders as he approached the sword. Looking around, Kakashi then noted that something was odd about the wall behind the sword. Walking to it he placed a hand onto it and then pulled away.

"Glass…" He mumbled to himself while brushing away years of dust to reveal a white specter held within a glass prison, curled in on itself. "What the hell is that?" Kakashi wondered while rubbing his chin, Sakura looking around worriedly before jumping as something moved. Turning quickly, Kakashi saw an old crow looking at them both from a window before flying off into the distance. "Honestly Sakura don't scare me like that." Kakashi grumbled and the pinkette bowed her head.

"I'm sorry Sensei, but this place is just really creepy." Sakura said with a shiver and Kakashi had to give her that much. Turning away from the being in the glass, Kakashi walked over to the sword and rubbed his chin for a moment. Frowning he then noticed something carved into the ground before the sword.

"Xine." He whispered before shaking his head and taking the swords hilt in his hand. Pulling it free he then twirled it around for a second, surprised by the lightweight and amount of balance the weapon had. "This is a rather intriguing weapon…" Kakashi mused while swinging the weapon for a moment, darkness trailing after the blade as he did so. However, behind him, the white being suddenly twitched within his glass prison while Sakura looked at the sword warily.

"Sensei, maybe it's not a good idea to touch that. It could be dangerous." Sakura reasoned and Kakashi chuckled while giving the girl an eye-smile.

"Ma ma, Sakura-Chan. It's just a sword, and it's not doing anything here." Kakashi reminds only to turn when he hears the shattering of glass. "What the hell?" Kakashi wondered as the white being was suddenly surrounded by black energy and stood up, holding its hand towards him before Soul-Eater flew from his hand and into its outstretched… well it wasn't a hand, more like a flat spike that curved around the handle of the sword.

Instantly, pure darkness spiraled around the creature, it's body taking on a definite shape until finally, a man stood before them. The man was not exceptionally tall, nor was he exceptionally strong looking, having a light build from what Kakashi could tell, he was dressed in a long black cloak with the sleeves coming in tight on his wrists; black leather shoulder armor was attached to his cloak with a hood pulled up to hide his face in shadow, a silver zipper up the front with two silver pull strings beside his throat with a silver chain under it, with a pair of black gloves over his hands with a pair of Spellbinders like Naruto's around both of his wrists, black Hakama-esque pants, and a pair of black boots with silver trim…

"Ugh… man what just hit me?" The man wondered while rubbing his hooded head then took notice of Kakashi and Sakura. "And just who might you two be?" The man wondered while leaning Soul-eater into his right shoulder and Kakashi narrowed his eyes on the man.

"Our names aren't important. Who are you?" Kakashi demanded and the man tapped Soul-Eater into his shoulder before giving a light chuckle.

"Me? I'm called Xine, The Dark-Knight, The Cursed Alchemist, The Fallen One, and of course The Seeker of Darkness as some have been known to call me… yatta, yatta, yatta. Etcetera etcetera…" The man offered with a wave of his free hand and Kakashi took a stance, Sakura taking one of her own as the man tilted his head. "Seriously? You're actually considering attacking someone you have no prior knowledge of?" Xine questioned and Kakashi merely narrowed his eyes onto the odd warrior.

"You said "Seeker of Darkness" that would probably mean you work with the Heartless then… correct?" Kakashi questioned and Xine tilted his head to one side before scratching his head.

"Man, what the hell has been going on since I was sealed up by that Maleficent bitch?" The man wondered to himself before looking around and taking in the dilapidated and destroyed castle for a moment… "Damn… I've been gone longer than I would've guessed…" Xine noticed before twirling Soul-Eater in one hand and took one step back into a stance. "But, if you guys are looking for a fight, then I'll be more than happy to accommodate you…" Xine offered in a monotone, Kakashi narrowing his eyes on the man as he jumped into the air.

"Let Darkness Take you!" He called out before coming to the ground, and stabbing his weapon into the ground. Looking around, Kakashi widened his eyes as the room around them was forcibly repaired by the Darkness. Pillars that had fallen rose back up, torn tapestries were repaired all but instantly, furniture that had been torn apart repaired themselves all while glowing with an eerie black color.

"Alright, now lets do this!" Xine called out as a black dome wrapped around his body, then something jumped out of the top. Cursing, Kakashi pushed Sakura out of the way as a Clone of Darkness brought a fake Soul-Eater down where they had been. Looking up, Kakashi cursed as more Dark-Clones came from the shell, swinging their false weapons at him and Sakura. Once the attack was over, Xine came out of the shell and gave a light chuckle, leaning his weapon into his shoulder.

"Man, I can't believe you survived That." He noted before lunging forward and then ducking INTO the ground as a patch of darkness came straight for Kakashi. Cursing the man backed away from the crawling darkness as Xine came up out of the ground then swung Soul-Eater at him. Sakura used this opportunity however and lunged at Xine slamming her fist into him from the side, sending him flying. Righting himself in the air, Xine groaned in pain for a moment before scoffing.

"Is that the best you can do?" He questioned and Sakura growled before lunging forward, then leaped into the air and brought her fist down into the ground, shattering the floor and knocking Xine off his feet. Seeing his own opportunity, Kakashi pulled a pair of Kunai from his thigh and lunged towards Xine. Jumping across the broken pieces of the ground he kicked Xine in the gut before slashing his torso in an X shape. Falling back, Xine then reached up to rub his head. Before he could get his bearings straight however, Sakura came at him and kicked him off the ground into a spin before landing in a heap on his back.

"Yikes… maybe I was just a little too insulting." Xine mused before rolling back to evade a few more Kunai from Sakura and Kakashi. Kakashi then came at the man with two punches, Xine evading them before a kick from Kakashi slammed into his chest, knocking him back. Looking up, the man cursed as Sakura then came down on him with both her fists, the man watching on as the ground shattered beneath her fists.

"Shit, just how strong are you pinky?" Xine had to ask and the girl smirked towards him in response.

"Please forgive me, but I'm stronger than I look." She quipped and Xine shook his head before twisting out of the way of another punch and rolled back to avoid Kakashi as he threw a Kunai at him. Seeing it, Sakura rolled in order to avoid the Kunai meant for the strange man. Rolling back Xine then placed a hand on the ground and landed with a sigh of relief before glaring at the two Nin.

"Alright, that does it, no more playing around with you two… and no more punching ME around!" Xine mumbled before holding his left hand to the side, a second Soul-Eater appearing in his outstretched Hand. "Now let me show you, the truth about Darkness!" He then exclaimed while sticking his two weapons together pommel to pommel and forming a single double-sided Soul-Eater. Twirling the double-sided weapon over his head, Xine began to glow with a strange dark energy as he glared towards the two Nin…

--

(Broken-Wonderland…)

Naruto, Alice and the others walked into the Queen of hearts castle, Axel whistling when he saw where they were. There was hedges before them, a river of what seemed to be lava, large walls all around them with massive spikes curling towards the main portion of the castle itself and twisted archways before them along the path, and the very sky above them almost looked as if it was completely covered in smoke, the sun barely visible… "Talk about ominous." Axel murmured while Larxene nodded her head, then spotted a few Card-Guards up ahead.

"C'mon, looks like we've got some pests to deal with." She grumbled with a frown and Axel smirked slightly.

"And you care why?" He quipped and the blond woman took a thoughtful look before a sadistic expression crossed her face.

"Good point!" Larxene admitted while Tira grinned slightly as well.

"Master, may we go ahead and kill anything in your way?" Tira asked and Naruto looked over to Alice questioningly.

"Fine, but the queen is mine." Alice offered flippantly and Tira grinned before rushing off, Axel and Larxene following her as they formed their weapons. "They really like fighting, don't they." Alice noted as she and Naruto walked forward, the blond haired teen shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah well, with Tira I think all she knows how to do is kill things, with Larxene she seems to be a Sadist, and Axel probably just likes showing up Larxene to piss her off." Naruto offered in explanation and Alice nodded her head slowly, frowning as she then wondered something.

"What's a sadist?" She questioned and Naruto gave her a look.

"You're kidding… right?" Naruto questioned and Alice shook her head, thus making the blond teen shake his head. "It means she's someone who likes to cause pain and misery to others." Naruto explained and Alice frowned before rubbing her chin and shook her head.

"No. She doesn't strike me as a Sadist then, most of what she does seems forced." Alice stated and Naruto blinked while looking at the auburn haired girl.

"Forced?" Naruto asked as they walked by some Meta-Essence left behind by Larxene and the others.

"Yes forced. It's almost like she's only acting like she is, otherwise she seems rather apathetic to everything around her." Alice replied with a slight frown and Naruto rubbed his chin for a moment.

"Well… she is a Nobody and they are known to act like they still have hearts." Naruto mused and figured that did explain why Alice would think Larxene was "Acting" like a sadist. "But if that's the case then what is she really like?" Naruto wondered and Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"I wouldn't know, and I honestly wonder if she knows what she was really like." Alice told the boy while continuing to walk forward, absorbing the odd amount of Meta-Essence along the way.

"True, but then again maybe it doesn't really matter." Naruto mused with a shrug of his shoulders and Alice nodded her head in agreement. Continuing to casually make their way ahead, Naruto soon saw Tira and the others waiting for them before a massive archway. "Think it's big enough…" Naruto mumbled while they looked to the others and then motioned for them to follow. Walking through the gate, Naruto and Alice both shivered when they entered into a short tunnel.

"You know, most worlds don't put you through this much hell." Axel noted and Larxene nodded her head in agreement when they came out of the tunnel, right in front of the Queens castle this time, where massive biological pillars were rising up as part of the design of the castle. "Gross, what is this chick, insane?" Axel wondered aloud and Naruto had to believe the Queen of Hearts was indeed quite insane.

"Regardless we need to get to the castle. We should hurry while the bulk of her guards are preoccupied." Alice stated and Naruto nodded his head in agreement.

"Fine, fine. Just lead the way or Princess of Shadowed Hearts." Larxene mocked smarmily and Naruto gave the blond woman a look while Alice made her way forward. Jumping down and walking along a pillar, Alice turned and then pulled the Jabberwock's-Eye-Staff from behind her back. Aiming and firing at one Card-Guard while backing up she released the trigger, sending an explosive charge to take the card out. Turning to the side she saw another and fired at it as well, sending another explosive charge straight for it.

Once both were gone, Alice then climbed up onto a platform before helping Naruto up. As the others followed them they hopped across the way, soon coming to the wall where the Card-Guards had been. Absorbing the meta-essence there, she then turned to Naruto as he looked at a hole in the biological portion of the castle. "That is just so nasty…" Larxene mumbled to herself while looking at the portion of the wall that was missing.

"For once, I'm with Larxene on this." Axel commented with a grimace and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, when you've been eaten by a giant snake nothing is disgusting anymore…" Naruto commented while hopping inside, followed by Tira and Alice while Larxene looked to Axel.

"Did he just say he'd been eaten by a Giant snake?" The blond questioned and Axel blinked for a moment.

"Yep." He answered and Larxene gaped.

"What the hell kind of world is he from?" She wondered to herself before following after the blond, Axel casually doing the same.

"From the sounds of it, an insane one." Axel said while noting that Alice was firing her Jabberwock's-Eye-Staff into the next hall, and from the screams several Card-Guards had been waiting for them. Once all the Card-Guards were gone, Alice fired an explosive bolt into the hall for good measure; Alice fell back where Naruto caught her.

"Thank you." Alice said while standing up and putting her Eye-Staff away and then pulled out what looked like a strange wand with ice like crystals forming at the top. Brushing off her dress she then walked forward into a room with a bridge that looked like a giant spine with ribs reaching out of the sides.

"Okay, does anyone else have a bad feeling about where this chick is heading or is it just me?" Axel wondered seriously and Larxene held up her hand while Naruto smirked towards the man.

"Axel, seriously, you need to chill, whatever we come across we'll deal with." Naruto stated while walking after Alice at a sedate pace.

"Besides that, we can just kill anything that tries to hurt us." Tira said, deciding to add in her own two cents before following after Naruto, Larxene pulling Axel with her as they walked along the massive spine. Walking off the spine and turning, they climbed up to the next open area where Alice quickly used her odd wand to freeze several Imps that got too close to them.

"An 'Ice-Wand'? Just how many weapons do you carry around?" Axel Questioned of the girl and Alice shrugged her shoulders, having never really thought about the amount before.

"Enough. That is all you need to know." Alice stated while putting her Ice-Wand away and absorbing the Imp's meta-essence. Pulling her Vorpal-Blade free the girl then hopped down to a lower platform.

"She sure is eager all of a sudden… wasn't she the one complaining about all this when we first met?" Naruto noted with no small amount of surprise as he hopped after Alice, the rest of their group not far behind him. Following the girl, Naruto watched as Alice expertly killed a few more Imps with her Vorpal-Blade from a distance. Hopping down onto a sidelong pillar and walking over to it, Alice then threw a Jack in the box towards two more Imps.

"What's with the toys?" Axel questioned and Alice pointed towards the so-called "Toy". The said object suddenly exploding in a massive fireball that killed the three imps nearby instantly. "Wow… those are some seriously badass toys." Axel then stated and Alice gave him a look for his language before hopping to the ground, absorbed some more meta-Essence and made her way to a cave.

"Hey, think I can handle the next few?" Larxene questioned and Alice motioned for her to go forward. The blond grinned at this and lunged passed the rest of the group before quickly lashing out at a Jabberspawn and Boojum at the next turn.

"She really enjoys her work." Naruto noted and Axel nodded his head in agreement with the blond teen. Following after Larxene, into a cave that seemed to be made of bricks that were covered in a red biological mass. Looking on, Naruto watched as she continued to cut through anything that lay in their path. Coming to the end of the short cave the group found a thermal vent before them. "Alice, go on ahead." Naruto offered and the girl nodded while using the thermal vent to get up where Larxene was dealing with a few Card-Guards.

"Dark-Corridor?" Axel suddenly questioned and Naruto gave the man a look.

"What do you think?" Naruto quipped and Axel shrugged his shoulders with a smirk as Naruto opened the corridor on top of them and they appeared at the upper section of the cave. Following Alice and Larxene as they made it to the next side they frowned upon seeing another thermal vent, this one leading up much higher.

"I'll go to the very top and then you all can follow me." Alice offered and Naruto made an "After you" motion. Jumping above the Thermal-Vent, Alice floated up higher into the cave before moving over to a doorway. Looking out and spotting the entrance to the castle, Alice then turned back inside. "Alright, hurry up here, I can see the entrance!" Alice cried and Naruto pulled them all into a Dark-Corridor where they appeared around Alice. Looking down, Naruto noticed that the drop was fairly steep before blinking as Alice jumped down and landed in a crouch.

"Nice…" Axel said with a whistle while Alice pulled her Eye-Staff out and rushed towards the entrance of the castle. "That girl sertainly knows her stuff." Axel notes and Naruto rolls his eyes before jumping down as well, followed by Tira and Axel while Larxene teleported to the door where Alice was.

"Miss Larxene, why do you enjoy harming others so much?" Alice questioned as she absorbed the Meta-Essence from the two Card-guards. Looking at the auburn haired girl for a moment Larxene snorted with a smirk.

"Do I need a reason?" Larxene countered and Alice decided to remain silent while pushing open the massive double doors to the castle. Seeing several Card-Guards, Larxene grinned before laughing as she vanished and attacked the closest of them.

"She's sure energetic." Naruto noted and Axel rolled his eyes while the woman rained lightning down on a few of her enemies.

"Eh, Larxene's always loved fighting more than anyone else in the Organization. She was one of the mid-ranked members after all, and considering the fact she was one of our later members, that's really saying something about her tenacity and skill." Axel admitted and Naruto made a note not to find out exactly how much skill the woman had as she continued to attack the Card-Guard.

"Hey, why is miss Alice playing with a Grasshopper?" Tira asked while looking to the girl, Naruto turning to see Alice was looking at a Grasshopper with a teakettle on its back.

"Oh my, oh my, such a curious thing you are." Alice murmured to herself before licking her lips. "I am a bit thirsty… perhaps just one drink wouldn't hurt." Alice mused to herself thoughtfully and Naruto gaped.

"Uh, Alice I don't think that's such a good idea." Naruto stated and the girl turned to him and gave him a look.

"Look, I'm thirsty, I've wondered all across Wonderland without even a spot of tea or something to eat. I deserve a drink so I will have one." She stated before turning the grasshopper and drinking some tea from its back. Licking her lips once she was done she put the creature down and watched it scamper away. "See, nothing bad…" Alice started to say before swooning slightly as the Cheshire cat appeared next to her.

"Those who say nothing like a cup of tea for calming the nerves never had real tea." Cheshire mused while Alice gasped as her skin started to turn green and antenna sprouted above her eyes. "It's like a syringe of adrenaline straight to the heart!" Cheshire then stated while vanishing with a light chuckle. Falling to her knees, Alice then gasped as a pair of insect wings burst from Alice's back and her eyes became black compound eyes, her lips turning blue.

"Alice!" Naruto exclaimed as he rushed over to his friend as she shivered slightly with her hands on her arms.

"I Sup-p-pose I c-c-could be wrong…" Alice mumbled with a buzz to her voice while looking to Naruto and Axel looked at the girl with a flat expression.

"Alice, I've got to know, how many things can you turn into?" Axel questioned of Alice while Naruto helped her onto her feet, the girl looking at her body strangely.

"I'm n-n-not really all t-t-that sure m-m-myself." Alice admitted before giving a sigh and turning around. Jumping up, her wings fluttered and she hopped over several of the large bricks and reached the top of several columns before spotting a circular platform. "I t-t-think I m-m-might have f-f-found our w-w-way up into t-t-the castle!" She then called back to Naruto and the others, Larxene landing near the girl and was about to slash her. However, upon noticing the familiar dress and boots, Larxene stops and pokes Alices head.

Turning to the blond woman, Alice gives her a cross look while crossing her arms. "Please d-d-don't do t-t-that, it is m-m-most rude." Alice stated simply and Larxene gaped at the insect like girl.

"What the hell happened to you!?" Larxene demanded of Alice while holding her shoulders and the younger girl gave her a weak grin.

"I m-m-may have d-d-drank something I w-w-wasn't supposed t-t-to." Alice admitted while Naruto, Axel, and Tira climbed up and looked between Larxene and Alice.

"Weird huh." Axel offered and Larxene nodded her head in agreement while taking her hands from the girl. Sighing, Alice then rushed off, moving at least three times faster than the others before skidding to a halt before the platform with wide eyes.

"Oh my…" She said to herself while Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose. _'Okay, she turns into a Demon and kills things faster, she turns into a reptile and can swim under water easily, she turns into a bug and she can move faster and jump higher than humanly possible…'_ Naruto noted before jumping down and landing Next to Alice, soon followed by Axel and the others.

"You going to be okay Alice?" Naruto then asked and the girl looked at her mutated skin before shrugging her shoulders.

"I suppose I will, this can't be permanent after all." She stated and Naruto had to hope for her sanity that she was right. Walking onto the circular platform, Naruto shivered as it was raised upwards, a spine like series of bones and three flesh like pillars holding it in place as it went up. As they went Alice suddenly doubled over, Axel cursing as he knelt down beside her. Grimacing, the girl then felt her body shift as her skin returned to normal, and soon her insect like qualities vanished completely. Breathing out heavily Alice looked up and Axel helped her onto her feet before swooning once more.

Quickly moving behind her Naruto caught Alice as she placed a hand to her head. "Oh my… I don't think I really like that tea…" She mumbled while the platform suddenly came to the top of the rise. Hearing a familiar sound the group looked forward to see the Cheshire cat waiting for them and looking around.

"The queen, the queen, my lower incisors for the queen." Cheshire hissed out while looking all around and dragged his claws along the floor. "Where is that wretched creature?" Cheshire then questioned darkly before wondered off and vanishing once more. Watching the cat leave Naruto rolled his eyes for a moment before looking around and then pulled Alice down when he saw a Card-Guard fire at them.

"Tira, kill it and anymore of them you find with extreme prejudice!" Naruto ordered and Tira grinned before turning towards the Card-Guard with a wide insane grin across her lips.

"As you wish master!" She stated before lunging at the Card-Guard, then swung her ring blade to cut it in half, seeing a doorway behind the group, Tira ran into it with a laugh. Looking to Larxene silently, the blond nodded before running after Tira while Naruto helped Alice up.

"Alright, now lets teach this Queen of hearts bitch a lesson once and for all." Naruto told Alice and Axel before walking to a large doorway up ahead with his two companions on either side. Walking through the doors as they opened Axel lunged to the side when he saw a Card-Guard and Naruto did the same while Alice attacked one in front of them. The one Alice went after was in a lower section of the room, and as she fought it, Alice noted three portraits. One of one of either Tweedle-Dee or Tweddle-Dum, one of The mad Hatter, and one of The Jabberwocky…

Pulling Soul-Blade from his back, Naruto merely chopped the Card-Guard in half with one move then growled when he saw more Card-Guards in the distance. Naruto then ran towards them as Axel burned his Card-Guard alive and Alice sliced hers in half. Pulling Dark-Heart from his back, Naruto then threw both weapons at the Card-Guards, causing one to turn into a Heartless while the other was instantly killed. Holding out his hands as the weapons returned, Naruto then twirled them for a moment before placing them onto his back.

"A switch." Alice noted as she came up from behind Naruto and looked at the device, Naruto raising a brow.

"Let's see what it does." Naruto says and Alice nodded her head while walking over to the switch. However, hearing a familiar sound, the three turn to see the Cheshire cat sitting near them. However, Naruto sees something off about Cheshire, it's still clearly the same cat they've known, but his eyes seemed… at peace? Raising a brow, Naruto watched Cheshire give a grin to Alice, a true grin, and one filled with happiness.

"Few ever find the way, some don't ever recognize it when they do, some don't ever want to." Cheshire said softly, echoing some of first advice to Naruto and Alice as he closed his eyes and vanished once more. Blinking, Naruto looked to see an equally confused Alice as she looked to him.

"Alright, I haven't known that cat very long… but was that normal? Cause something seemed off if you ask me." Axel noted and Naruto nodded his head while Alice looked to the switch before reaching out and pulling it. Instantly, a turnstile below them turned to one of the portraits that had rested on the lower section, Alice looking down silently as Cheshire's odd behavior troubled her mind. Walking over to Alice, Naruto placed a hand onto her shoulder and she turned to him.

"C'mon, lets try those other doorways where Tira and Larxene went. They might be where we need to go." Naruto stated and Alice slowly nodded her head as the three made their way from the room, a clearly bad feeling hovering over all of them…

--

(Villain's Vale…)

Kakashi cursed while ducking as Xine used some kind of an energy attack, an arc of energy coming from the end of his weapon. _'Unlike Naruto, this guy is consciously using his powers. Meaning that more than likely he's had them a lot longer than Naruto has had his. But, for how long is that?'_ Kakashi wondered then flipped back as Xine came down from the air in a Helm-Breaker attack. Grinning with a chuckle, Xine then twirled his double bladed weapon over his head before slamming it into the ground.

Ignoring that and the warning bells in his mind, Kakashi jumped across a few scattered portions of the floor and lashed out with a kick to Xine's head. Taking a quick step back, Xine avoided than before slamming Soul-Eater into Kakashi's side, sending him to the ground. Turning his head, Xine then flipped over Sakura as she tried to punch him again and then kicked her in the back, knocking her to the ground. Spinning the DS-Soul-Eater before himself, Xine then pierced the ground with it, a wall of Darkness spreading from his body and slamming into both Sakura and Kakashi.

Grunting in pain the two got up to see Xine rise back to his feet and stumble for a bit, one hand to his head. "Whoa, used too much power with that one." He noted before taking the second Soul-Eater off of the original and throwing it to the side, the weapon vanishing with a flash of darkness. "Now where we?" Xine wondered while tapping his Soul-Eater into his shoulder and Kakashi frowned before forming three hand seals.

"About here…" He uttered as lightning arched over his hand and he took a quick step back. **"Chidori!"** The man exclaimed while lunging at Xine, the black cloaked warrior chuckling as the attack seemed to hit him… only for the real Xine to pop into existence behind Kakashi instead.

"Gotcha now!" He exclaimed while kicking Kakashi to the side and landing with one hand on his hip. "Jeez, and I thought you were doing something dangerous." Xine mused while the dark clone that Kakashi had hit melted into the ground.

"What the hell are you?" Kakashi questioned while getting up and Xine held up one finger and ducked under a kick from Sakura. Quickly sweeping her feet out from under her he then swung Soul-Eater and sent her flying back as a wave of Darkness through her away from him. Landing with a grunt, Sakura pushed herself up while Xine tapped his Soul-Eater into his shoulder and scratched his head.

"Better question is, what are you two?" Xine wondered and Kakashi choose to attack him while he was looking at Sakura. Seeing the attack out of the corner of one eye, Xine leaned back, evading a punch from Kakashi. Twisting in the air, Xine then kicked Kakashi in the stomach while his hood fell back and away from his face. Standing up and then brushing some hair from his face, Xine unzipped his cloak slightly; allowing his collar to be seen while Kakashi narrowed his eye on the man.

He looked to only be in his early twenties at beast, he had a bright red right eye, while a black eye patch covered his left eye; his very spiky brown hair was swept out of his face, though a few odd strands fell down over his eye patch in spikes, a pair of wire frame glasses were perched upon the bridge of his nose, and his skin was very tanned with a jagged scar visible on the left side of his face, coming out from under his eye patch and down his cheek…

"Just who are you?" Kakashi wondered and the man shrugged his shoulders before a haunted look crossed his features.

"There's no time for questions. For the hell you've given me, I should probably kill you here and now." Xine noted while looking between the two Nin, and then sighed slightly while scratching his right cheek. "But… unfortunately I'm not really that kind of guy. And you did kind of release me so… I guess I'll let you off with a warning this time." Xine mused while throwing his Soul-Eater to the side, the weapon vanishing once more as he placed his hands on his hips and gave them both a wide grin…

"So, I guess I'll see you guys later!" He then offered as Darkness swirled around him, soon swallowing him as he vanished into the shadows.

"Sensei are you okay?" Sakura asked as she rushed over to Kakashi, the man's eye narrowed as he slowly stood up.

"I'm fine Sakura, but who was that man?" Kakashi wondered while Sakura looked to where he'd been and wondered the same thing…

--

(Broken Wonderland…)

Alice and her group had destroyed the last of the three portraits; the ominous feeling hovering around them hadn't lessened however. Instead, as they continued to get closer and closer to finally confronting the queen, it got worse. Walking back into the room where the three portraits had been, Alice looked to see Naruto was clearly on edge, as was she. Walking up towards the newly opened doors, the group walked into a room with two more doors at the end.

"I'm starting to hate doors…" Larxene muttered while looking more on edge than the others. Axel looked like his best friend was about to kick the bucket… and Tira looked kind of sleepy as she yawned into one hand. _'Nice to see nothing can damper her mood at least…'_ Naruto thought to himself as they all approached the door, only to hear a familiar sound as the Cheshire Cat reappeared. Like before however, he seemd off, he was pacing this time and his eyes wouldn't meet theirs…

"Bravery and I are not on intimate terms… my natural curiosity is tempered with caution, thus I've lived long." Cheshire said mostly to himself before vanishing and then appeared to the opposite side of the door. "But now ignoring my instinct to flee or fib, I speak the truth without regard for consequence; your courage deserves no less." Cheshire said while waving his paw to the side then vanished once more before appearing to the other side of the door once more.

"Something is wrong…" Axel stated while looking all around, half expecting something to attack them at this point.

"You've suffered great pain, and you've caused some. You've endured deep grief and feelings of guilt, but you will be tested by a more wrenching anguish, Alice." Cheshire explained with a wave of his paw as the doors behind him slowly moved apart to show a deep darkness beyond them. "There is worse to come. You and this Red-Queen cannot both survive; you are two parts of the same… Mia-MEOW!" Cheshire started to explain and for a single moment, Alice felt the world freeze as with one finally screech a red tentacle came from the floor and shot straight through the Cheshire Cat's head, taking it off in one fell move…

"Ch-Ch-Cheshire…" Naruto mumbled in shock while Axel looked all around.

"Where the hell did that come from?" The man demanded while Larxene looked towards Alice and a pained look briefly crossed her features before it was squashed down by a look of apathy.

"Master… what just happened?" Tira wondered while looking around for whomever just beheaded the Cheshire Cat. However, Naruto was silent as he stared at the now headless corpse of the only talking cat he knew. Alice however silently, almost robotically walked forward before falling to her knees before the cats body. _'Please would you tell me," she had asked timidly at first, not sure if she was aloud to speak or not, "why your cat grins like that?" "It's a Cheshire Cat" the Duchess had said, "and that's why, Pig!'_ Alice remembered as her first seeing the cat oh so many hears ago as memories of their first meeting played in her mind's eye…

--

_Alice remembered the meeting as if it was only yesterday. She had been very young at the time, seven and a half exactly, when she had first entered wonderland. The Cheshire Cat had been the pet to the Duchess when she first saw him, but it hadn't been when they first met, no, that came a short while afterwards._

_The cat had been sitting in a tree, grinning as it always did when it saw her. It had looked good-natured; it was a fluffy ball of grey fur with black stripes down its back and wide green eyes looking down at her with an impossibly wide grin. However, given its very long claws and great many teeth, she couldn't help but feel it ought to be treated with respect._

"_Cheshire puss…" She had begun timidly while wondering how it would like the name; its widening grin seemed to tell her it didn't mind. __'Good, it's pleased so far.'__ Alice thought to herself before she went on. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" She had asked sweetly while looking to the cat and it tilted its head to one side._

"_That depends a good deal on where you want to get to." The cat replied simply and Alice blinked._

"_I don't much care where…" She replied and the cat hummed in thought._

"_Then it doesn't matter which way you go." The cat told her good-humoredly but the stubborn girl frowned._

"… _so long as I get somewhere." She added and the cat grinned wider._

"_Oh, you're sure to do that." He had said. "if you only walk long enough."_

_Feeling annoyed, Alice decided she'd need to try a different approach. "What sort of people live here?" She had asked and the cat hummed once more._

"_In that direction…" He said while waving his right paw round. "Lives a Hatter: and in that direction." The cat started while waving his other paw. "Lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: their both mad." The Cheshire Cat stated and Alice looked around worriedly for a moment._

"_But I don't want to go among mad people." Alice remarked with a slight fear in her eyes and the Cheshire Cat's grin widened ever so slightly while looking down at her._

"_Oh, you can't help that." The cat said slowly while leaning his head forward. "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." He stated then mused aloud and Alice cut him off with a frown._

"_How do you know I'm mad?" She requested of the cat and it grinned once more._

"_You must be…" The cat insisted with a wide grin stretched across its face. "Or you wouldn't have come here."_

_Frowning at the logic of his answer, Alice decided to ignore that and go on. "And how do you know that you're mad?" She asked and the cat grinned wider._

"_To begin with." The cat started while curling its tail into its body. "a dog's not mad. You grant that?" He questioned and Alice frowned in thought._

"_I suppose so." She admitted and the cat nodded his head._

"_Well, then." He went on. "You see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad." Cheshire explained with a nod of his head._

"_I call it purring, not growling." Alice stated while crossing her arms._

"_Call it what you like." The cat said while waving a paw at the girl. "Do you play croquet with the Queen today?" Cheshire questioned and Alice smiled up at him while rocking on her heels._

"_I should like it very much." Alice admitted then looked forlorn for a moment. "but I haven't been invited yet." She admitted and the cat grinned once more._

"_You'll see me there." The cat had said softly as it slowly vanished…_

--

Blinking back tears, Alice looked down at the corpse of Cheshire, one of her oldest, and dearest friends. Feeling her tears run down her cheeks, Alice tried to hold them in before looking to her side when a hand came to her shoulder. Seeing Naruto there she sniffed before looking back to Cheshire's corpse. "We're all mad here…" She mumbled, remembering his words to her, before closing her eyes. "No… you weren't mad." She then said while remembering Cheshire's constant wisdom and aide to her, some of which she had ignored because of her own stubbornness.

"You followed me for so long, you stuck by me no matter what came our way. You helped me through so many trials and tribulations. You gave me support when I needed it most, and yet now…" Alice mumbled to herself while Naruto then turned to Axel, Larxene and Tira.

"That does it. The cat was weird, he spoke in riddles and left us with a bunch of cryptic messages most of the time… but he helped Alice, he was her friend, he stuck with her knowing what would happen and he didn't give up even in the face of death. And I'll be damned before I let this bitch get away with killing him!" Naruto growled out while pulling his Keyblades from his back as Axel formed his Chakrams at his sides, Larxene her knives and Tira twisted her Ringblade with a grin.

"Don't even think of going… not without me at the least." Alice suddenly said and Naruto turned to see her slowly stand up, Vorpal-Blade gripped tightly in her right hand. "I'll make her pay, she took my oldest, dearest friend away. I see her pay for it, alone if I have too!" Alice insisted before turning and running through the open doors, Naruto cursing as he and the others followed her through the darkness before kicking open a pair of double doors into a massive throne room.

The throne room was large with a long carpet below them leading to the queen, four pillars were at their sides towards her, with two spiraling pillars behind her, two windows were also behind her stained a deep rose red, with the only light in the room coming from two holes in the roof to either side allowing the sky to be seen as well, the queens throne was on a raised platform, and her throne itself was a massive amalgam of golden spikes and curls. Walking forward the five soon saw the queen and Naruto grimaced in disgust upon seeing her.

Her upper body had red sleeves leading into an off burgundy shirt with ribbons down the front, spiked bracelets around her wrists with a massive spiked collar around her neck and a green heart placed at her throat, her face had no nose and was a pale pink color with bright red eyes, a odd black tiara resting upon her brow with black rising up over the rest of her forehead, long red tendrils arched off her head however, appearing like horns of some sort, her hands having been replaced by this tendrils as well, her legs didn't seem to exist, instead she had white tendrils…

Looking at the queen Alice placed a hand to her head, her eyes flashing yellow as a stabbing pain hit her. "Who am I?" Alice wondered softly before looking up as the queen turned towards her, then simply raised her left tendril-like hand…

"Off with her head!" She said calmly before her face slithered off of her head and hit the floor with a sickening squench. Taking a step back as the queen suddenly rose into the air, her throne breaking away to reveal a single massive tentacle from her back into it.

"Holy shit!" Axel called while backing up while Naruto grabbed Alice's arm and pulled her back with them. As they got back the floor before the queen's throne fell away and she hovered in the air above them. Her inaction didn't last however as three tendrils were raised and began to glow blue before she fired beams of energy at the group. Quickly moving out of the way Naruto pulled Alice behind a pillar while Axel and the others found their own.

"Alright, anyone got any plans?" Larxene demanded while placing her back against her pillar. The Queen didn't give them any time to think however, as she suddenly held her hands up, an odd whistling sound echoing in the air. Widening her eyes, Alice looked down and pulled Naruto out of the way as blue dust rose up into the air and fizzled.

"We have to keep on the move!" Alice stated and Naruto nodded then rolled while hanging onto Alice as a tentacle came out of the ground where they had been. Wide eyed the two quickly got up and ran as the queen formed that same blue dust again.

"Larxene! She's distracted!" Axel called and the blond woman grinned before rolling out from behind her pillar.

"Lightning!" She exclaimed, a bolt coming down onto the Queen and stunning her. "I'll break you!" She then cried while vanishing, then reappeared beside the queen before rapidly swiping her knives into her. The queen merely took the hits, and then wrapped a tendril around Larxene before throwing her to the ground. Bouncing along the ground while Axel slid out from his spot.

"Burn baby!" He cried while holding his two Chakrams before himself, a fireball flying from them and slamming into the queen. Roaring out in pain the Queen moved, the ground rumbling beneath Axel before the man quickly rolled out of the way. "Hell no! I am not losing my head bitch!" Axel cried before lunging forward, Chakrams covered in flames as he threw them at the queen. The weapons hit her from under the chin before returning to Axel as he threw them in a sideways spin, slamming into her sides before returning to him as he then threw one flaming Chakram, nailing her in the chest then threw the others before both exploded from her chest, his Chakrams flying into the ground and steaming lightly.

"Well, lets see her get up from that." Axel mused as the smoke cleared, thus the man gaped as the Queen still hovered there, then fired several beams of energy that sent him flying back. Taking this as her Chance, Alice moved towards the Queen with her Blunderbuss and fired, the queen crying out as a massive blast slammed into her. The queen dangled lifelessly for a moment, Tira taking this as her own chance threw her Ring-Blade at the queen, waking her with a cry as it sliced into her body.

Screaming in rage, the queen pried the weapon from her side before throwing it back at Tira. The girl ducked to the side to evaded it then pulled it out of the ground while rolling back to evade a tentacle. Meanwhile, Naruto threw his two Keyblades at the queen, the weapons slamming into her before she set her sights on the blond. "Alice, do you think you can fire that gun thing again?" Naruto questioned while rolling out of the way of some blue dust then flipped back as the queen fired several blasts of energy.

"I need more meta-essence!" Alice called out from her own hiding spot then ducked out of the way of a tentacle coming out of the ground.

"Right. Tira, protect Alice, Larxene, Axel, we're on diversion!" Naruto called and the red head and blond girl grimaced while picking themselves up.

"Incase you hadn't noticed, I just hit her with my best attack and she's still moving!" Axel reminded and Naruto gave him a look before flipping back as the queen fired blue lasers out of her tendrils towards them. Cursing, Naruto rolled out of the way of the beams before bringing his arms back and throwing them forward, he weapons slamming into the queen before spinning and returning to his hands. Using the distraction, Larxene called down another bolt of lightning onto the queen before Axel conjured a fireball and sent it flying at her.

"Alright!" Alice then called as she ran forward, then aimed and fired her Blunderbuss at the queen. As soon as she did, Alice began to glow with yellow sparks while floating towards the shaking Queen. Pulling her Vorpal-Blade free, she quickly stabbed the weapon into the queen before jumping back. Screaming out in pain, the queen on her tentacle flailed about before slamming into the ground, silent and unmoving.

"I… think its over." Naruto noted and Axel blinked before scratching his head.

"Well that was anti-climatic." He noted and Larxene gave the red head a look.

"Don't jinx it." She grumbled before they all walked forward, Alice with them. Looking at the pit before the throne the group quickly jumped over it and looked down at the queen's body. However, upon getting too close to her, several Soulless suddenly appeared around them, Naruto cursing as they did.

"Shit!" Naruto called while something exited the Queens body before slamming into Alice, her form slithering and falling into the back of her throne. Instantly the throne exploded in light and knocked Alice and the others to the ground as a head appeared. This head had no real features save its bright yellow eyes, but it then opened its mouth to show a man with a massive nose, beady eyes and green skin, this head opened its mouth as well and what they saw shocked them, it was Alice's face…

"I rule Wonderland alone. Your interference will not be tolerated. This realm is for grownups; Raw, Well-Ordered, Ruthless, Careening on the jagged edge of reality. Self-pitying dreamers are not wanted here, they cannot survive here." The Alice head in the mouths of the other heads said as her voice slowly shifted into the queen's voice.

"You fear the truth. You live in shadows. Your pathetic attempts to reclaim your sanity have failed. Retreat to the sterile safety of your own self-delusions, or risk inevitable annihilation." The Queen ordered darkly as the Soulless around them prepared to attack them. "If you were to destroy me, you'd only succeed in destroying yourself! Leave now and some hollow part of you may survive. Stay, and I will break you down; you will lose yourself forever!" The queen exclaimed and Alice bowed her head for a moment before looking up at her with narrowed eyes.

"No. You've taken my friends from me, turned some against me, and ravaged this world to the brink of annihilation. I will do no more running, I'm tired of always running away from my problems. I may live in shadows but I do not fear the truth. Shadows are not something to fear, the Darkness isn't Evil, in fact, I've been living in Darkness for some time now I think." Alice mused while taking a thoughtful look, the Queen snarling towards her angrily.

"You however, dear Queen, you are the one that truly fears the truth." Alice stated while marching forward, pushing a Soulless out of the way as she glared into the eyes of the queen. "You say your destruction will end me, but now, I know enough to say that you, Queen of Hearts, are nothing without ME. If I were to destroy you I'd be all the better for it, but if you destroy me, you'd only destroy everything that Wonderland is or ever was… because it and you are all a part of me." Alice stated simply and the Queen roared out in fury before inhaling, Alice falling back while the Soulless were all pulled into the Queen's open maw.

"I think you made her mad!" Axel cried while Naruto dug his Keyblade into the ground, Axel doing the same before grabbing one of Larxene's arms. Tira did as they did before wrapping her legs around Alice's waist as the queen continued to inhale, rocks and parts of the room flying from around the room and into herself before the entirety of her palace began to be pulled into her open maw.

"What is she doing?!" Larxene demanded as Card-Guards and other creatures were pulled into the spiraling winds and then the Queen's mouth.

"I don't know but I really don't like it!" Naruto exclaimed seeing even more Soulless start to fall into the Queen's open mouth while they all held on for dear life. Then without warning the queen exploded in a massive flash of light throwing them all back when she did…

Opening their eyes seconds later, Naruto found himself bound in midair, his arms spread out while Larxene, Tira, and Axel were much the same. Looking around, the youth noted that they were all in a strange area, Soulless-Crests floating around them while everything appeared to be solid white now. Growling Naruto pulled on his arms only to grunt in pain, and then narrowed his eyes upon seeing the light energy that was swirling around his wrists and ankles. "Shit. She absorbed the Soulless in Wonderland for power." Naruto noted quietly while looking forward and saw Alice backing away from a figure with her eyes wide in shock.

Alice was the only one among them not bound by light; she was standing with wide eyes directly in front of another girl. However, most shocking was that Alice and the girl clearly resembled once more. They had the same green eyes, same dark-auburn hair, same height, and even the same basic physique. However, where Alice's form was thinner than a rail, the girl was not, not fat by any means, but she appeared to be in no way starving, her skin held a healthy glow about it over the almost grey pigmentation Alice's had, her hair was shinier, cleaner, and some of it fell down to cover her right eyes, said eyes being brighter, livelier than Alice's own emerald orbs.

In terms of clothing the girl wore a red version of Alice's dress with a Pinafore over it with a large bow in the back, identical to Alice once more, however she wore a white corset over it, a black choker collar around her neck, a necklace also falling from her neck to hang over her chest like Alice only it was a Silver A rather than a Golden horseshoe or Omega symbol, she had a black hair band to hold her hair back, some mesh fingerless gloves, a pair of white and black striped stockings, and a pair of ankle high black high heeled boots with a single metal buckle over them.

"Y-you…" Alice whispered while the other girl crossed her arms over her chest and Axel looked between them with a gaping jaw.

"Holy shit… there's two of her?" Axel whispered in question upon seeing the second Alice standing before the original with a sly smirk.

"You say I need you. Well your wrong now." The red Alice stated and Alice herself shook her head.

"Your still cheating I see, just like when I'd play croquet." Alice noted and the other frowned slightly before rolling her eyes and tilting her head.

"And you're still mad as ever." The Queen quipped back with a smirk and Alice's eyes narrowed onto her.

"Then if I'm mad what does that make you?" She demanded and the other Alice turned her back on her, presenting the Soulless-Crest that was holding her bow up. "Oh no…" Alice whispered with horror in her voice while the queen laughed and looked at Naruto and the others.

"I suppose I'm nothing but a Soulless monster now. But it doesn't matter, I'm still the one true queen of Wonderland!" The Queen mused aloud then exclaimed with a wide psychotic smile across her features and Alice narrowed her eyes.

"It doesn't matter what you think you are, you can't stop me!" Alice declared while turning her Vorpal-Blade and holding it in a backhanded grip. Placing her hands on her hips the queen snapped her fingers and a weapon rose up in front of her, Alice gasping upon seeing it.

The weapon was a sword, a broadsword no less, it was silver with familiar etchings down the length of the blade, a red heart with cracks breaking it into three pieces at the center of the guard, the guard being two spikes poking out of the sides of the heart while four more spikes curled around them like vines, the handle being wrapped in black leather with a heart shaped pommel with spikes poking out of it, oddly enough however, a large chunk of the blade was missing from the weapon, making it single edged halfway down from the tip.

"W-what is that?" Alice questioned while taking a step back and the Queen chuckled lightly while taking hold of the weapons handle and drawing it from the ground.

"This is the Vorpal-Sword, the very same weapon that felled the Jabberwocky of course. Your little blade is naught but a fraction of it." The Queen replied while Naruto tugged on his bonds once more, the girl scoffing as he tried to free himself. "You shouldn't bother boy, you won't interrupt my battle with dear little Alice." The queen stated before twirling the sword and lashing out with a swing, pure light flew from her blade, knocking Alice back and sending all her toys and weapons flying back as well.

Landing in a heap, Alice looked around to see her toys had been scattered around by the power of the queen's blade. Looking to the Queen herself Alice gasped as she came at her swinging the Vorpal-Sword. Rolling out of the way, Alice looked to her side and saw the Vorpal-Blade, rolling and picking it up at the same time, Alice got to her feet and lunged at the queen. Seeing the pathetic move, the Queen, rolled her eyes before taking hold of the Vorpal-Swords hilt with both hands and swung downwards, shattering Alice's Vorpal-Blade into pieces before kicking her to the ground. Poising her sword to strike, the queen grinned down at the girl before plunging the blade towards her.

Yelping and backpedaling, Alice watched as the Sword was stabbed through her dress and the Queen looked down at her sinisterly. "Now now dear, no more playing with toys, after all it's time for you to Die! I am the one true ruler of Wonderland!" The Queen then called out as she took hold of the handle of the Vorpal-Sword with both hands once more and poised it to strike. Thinking quickly, Alice kicked the Queen's left leg, causing her to loose her balance and fall down. Rolling to the side and onto her feet, Alice looked back and grabbed her Ice-Wand as the Queen got back up.

Quickly spraying a mist of ice at the Queen, Alice watched as her skin started to turn pale, her lips turning blue but she then took hold of her weapon and swung it once more. The energy knocked the Ice-Wand from Alice's hand and the Queen reared the sword back before throwing it, slicing the wand in half. The Vorpal-Sword then fell to the ground, embedding itself into it while Alice narrowed her eyes on the now unarmed Queen of Hearts.

"Without a weapon I know you can't win!" Alice stated before rolling to the side, picking up her Blunderbuss from the ground and quickly fired it at the Queen. Smirking as the shot came towards her, the Queen vanished in a flash of light before appearing beside the Vorpal-Sword, Alice's eyes wide in shock and horror.

"A weapon is merely a tool to channel our strength through." The Queen stated too sweetly for it to be real, then vanished and appeared before Alice with a malicious grin across her face. Swinging her weapon she cut Alice's Blunderbuss in half as well before lunging forward and ramming her shoulder into Alice's chest knocking her to the ground. Looking on with wide eyes as the Queen spun and then used her momentum to lift her sword, Alice rolled back while the woman slammed the sword into the ground. Looking around, Alice saw the Jabberwock's-Eye-Staff and quickly picked it up, aiming it at the queen, the girl closed one eye before firing at her.

The queen merely held her sword and blocked the beam of energy from the weapon, then reflected it back at the staff, causing it to explode and send Alice flying back. Groaning in pain, Alice slowly sat up and looked towards the queen with fear in her eyes. Crouching down, the Queen then lunged forward and swung the weapon down at Alice, the girl rolling back and out of the way. Grinning the Queen then kicked Alice in the chest, knocking her back before swinging the weapon once more. Leaning back to evade it, Alice quickly rolled to the side while the Queen poised her blade.

"This isn't fair at all! You're still nothing but a dirty cheater!" Alice stated while glaring at the queen and she rolled her eyes before stabbing the sword down, Alice yelping once more as she quickly rolled out of the way then looked at her doppelganger with wide eyes.

"Live with it, life isn't always fair little girl." The Queen mocked before pulling struggling for a moment and then pulled her weapon from out of the ground. Looking around, Alice quickly moved to retrieve another of her lost weapons only for the Queen to lunge at her and kick her down to the ground. The queen then placed her foot onto Alice's back while poising her sword to stab it down into her. Turning Alice over the queen grinned down at her wide-eyed look.

"What's the matter dear, afraid of death?" The Queen questioned darkly and Alice shook her head.

"I'm not afraid to die, nor am I afraid of you." She stated simply and the Queen scoffed while pulling the Vorpal-Sword back. _'I'm sorry… Cheshire-Puss…'_ Alice thought before closing her eyes…

"Now please don't tell me your giving up already Alice." The familiar voice echoed and Alice looked around, finding herself on a strange white circular platform surrounded by Darkness.

"Ch-Cheshire puss? Is that really you?" She asked quietly while looking around and then heard the familiar chime as the cat walked out of the shadows before her. Seeing her dearest friend, alive and well, Alice held back tears as they welled up in her eyes.

"Who else would I be?" The Cheshire Cat quipped and the girl slowly walked over to the cat before quickly wrapping her arms around his neck. Smiling into the cat's neck the girl then pulled back and looked to Cheshire as he gave a soft grin. "Dear little Alice, please don't cry tears of woe won't help you get by." The Cheshire cat said in verse while Alice wiped some stray tears from her eyes.

"Cheshire-Puss, I don't know how to kill the queen anymore." Alice admitted softly and the cat nodded his head.

"When Light is in over abundance and blinds, you need only snuff it out to see the way. Darkness Alice is your ally here." Cheshire offered and Alice sighed while taking her arms from around the cat's neck.

"But how do I snuff out the light, Cheshire-Puss… The Queen blew all my toys and weapons away. My friends have been captured… and I'm all alone." Alice reminds and the Cheshire Cat chuckled lightly while vanishing, then appeared beside her.

"The Queen has no power over your friends or your toys Alice. Wonderland is your creation; your imagination is your greatest weapon here. And you are never alone, just remember, friends never truly die when you keep them close to your heart." Cheshire stated and Alice tilted her head to one side. "Come now Alice, just follow my grin and you will know soon…" The cat then offered as he slowly vanished; soon only it's grin remaining while backing up. The grin then wondered up a flight of stained glass steps that made their way to another massive pillar.

"What is all this then…" Alice wondered before following after Cheshire's grin, soon coming to another platform, this one having her on it with several of her friends and enemies… However, in the center was Cheshire's body once more the girl looking in shock before looking all around. "Cheshire! Cheshire-puss!" She called looking for the lost cat before walking over to the headless body, a lone tear falling down her cheek…

"Dry your eyes, Alice because there's no time to cry. You'll see me again, when the time comes by. Even though you think it's the end, never forget that, in your heart… I'll always be your friend." The Cheshire cat's voice echoed out from nowhere once more while Cheshire's headless body changed, the Vorpal-Blade forming where it once was, the blade now stained with Darkness wafting off of it. Reaching out her hand slowly, tentatively, Alice took hold of the Vorpal-Blade and the shadows rose up around her…

Opening her eyes Alice then saw the Queen with her Vorpal-Sword and quickly moved her head to the side to evade it. Lashing out with the Vorpal-Blade Alice cut the Queens, arm, the woman backing off her where Alice then kicked her and rolled back onto her feet. "What!? Where did you get that? I've already shattered that blasted blade!" The queen demanded then exclaimed upon seeing the knife and Alice looked to it for a moment before a smile crossed her face.

"It was a gift from a dear friend." She stated as her eyes turned a bright amber-gold color once more. "And now to deal with you." She stated darkly while the Queen growled and pulled her sword from the ground.

"Humph, you're fighting alone and with only a knife, yet still you expect to kill me? What foolishness, what utter arrogance. It's no wonder you're no match for me and the light." The queen demanded then stated and Alice smiled once more before flipping the Vorpal-Blade into a backhanded grip.

"I'm not alone." Alice stated softly before closing her eyes and held one hand towards the ground. "With jaws that bite and claws that scratch and Vorpal-Blades that snicker-snack!" Alice stated in verse as a shadow rose out of the ground, an inky black cat appearing with bright yellow eyes, blue tattoos along its skin, and a wide sinister grin with sharp claws. Narrowing its eyes on a shocked Queen the dark cat gave a wicked grin while she backed away from it.

"_**Pray-tell, what's the matter your majesty? Afraid of a little old cat like me?"**_ The voice of Cheshire questioned in verse from the creature before it raked its nails along the ground and lunged forward, swiping at the Queen. Yelping in shock the Queen backed away, eyes wide in shock and fear while Alice looked to her feet and knelt down, picking up her old Dead-Time-Watch.

"Rabbit… Hatter…" She whispered before closing her eyes, two shadows rising up behind her, one a man with a large top-hat with a straight jacket and gears coming out of his body, a cane in one hand, while the other was in the form of a familiar rabbit, each with glowing yellow eyes. Walking passed Alice the two approached the Queen as the Shadow-Cheshire chased after her.

"What is this madness? Y-You cannot do this! They are dead, dead and gone, you can't revive the dead!" The Queen demanded then exclaimed fearfully before the Hatter slammed his cane into the side of her head, knocking her to the ground.

"_**Madness? Don't you know my queen… we're ALL mad here!"**_ The Shadow Hatter reminded before kicking her to the side. Quickly grasping her sword she held it up towards him and the Shadow-Cheshire. Bumping into something she turned to see the Shadow Rabbit looking down at her. Swinging her sword quickly, the queen watched as the Shadow-Rabbit shrank down and then ran along her body. Reaching her hand he bit down and she yelped, dropping the Vorpal-Sword and throwing him from her hand at the same time.

"How is she doing that?" Larxene demanded in shock while a Shadow-Griffon suddenly rose up behind Alice as well. Blinking, Naruto then saw the manacles on his arms glow black before he was dropped to the ground, the same for Axel and the others as well. Blinking in clear surprise for a moment, the teen then looked back over to Alice as the Shadow-Griffon made its way over to the Queen.

"It… could it have something to do with her being a Shadowed Princess?" Naruto wondered while Alice knelt down and picked up her cards, and then watched casually as Griffon walked towards the Queen and knocked her to the side. Naruto then narrowed his eyes, seeing the golden-amber eyes Alice now had as she walked over to her Jacks O' Death and casually picked them up as well.

The Queen however still had to deal with the Shadow creatures, gritting her teeth as they started to gang up on her she swung her Vorpal-Sword, an arc of Light slicing through and dissipating them at last. Turning her head to Alice as the girl placed her cards, Jacks o' Death, and pocket watch into her pockets, the queen got down and reclaimed her sword. "No! I rule Wonderland! Not you!" The queen called while lunging at Alice, dragging her sword at her side, sparks crawling along the tip.

Seeing this, Axel and Larxene made to intervene only for Naruto to hold out his arms to stop them. "What are you doing? We're supposed to help her remember." Axel reminded and Naruto smirked slightly, as he saw the calm peaceful expression on Alice's features, black energy snaking from her feet and staining the eternally white world and inky black color…

"I think… she'll be just fine." Naruto stated as Alice tossed her blade into her left hand as the Queen came at her. The auburn haired girl then stepped back to evade a swing of the Queen's sword, then took another step back, then one to the side, evading strike after strike and slash after slash from the Queen. Roaring out in fury, the Queen swung at Alice once more, the girl evading it before using her Vorpal-Blade from her hands. Moving calmly, Alice then tripped the queen while twisting around, grasping the Vorpal-Swords hilt with her right hand.

Swinging the heavy Weapon around and taking it with both hands along the way, Alice then twirled it until she had her back to the Queen. Stabbing the weapon back she impaled the queen from behind, eyes half lidded as a smile made its way to her lips. Gasping and spitting out blood, the Queen turned her head to see Alice turn her own head to her and Alice's Golden-Amber eyes locked onto her bright emerald orbs. "How…" The queen questioned softly and Alice twisted the Vorpal-Sword before pulling it out of her, allowing the Queen to bleed to death on the floor.

"How? Because, unlike you, who tormented and enslaved everyone you came across… I have friends who aid me willingly." Alice stated as the shadow forms of Cheshire Cat, The White-Rabbit, Griffon, and even The-Mad-Hatter rose up behind her, soon followed by shadow forms of all the other inhabitants of Wonderland…

Looking on in shock, the Queen rolled onto her back while darkness swirled around the Vorpal-Sword. Frowning, Alice stabbed it into the ground before shattering the weapon with her Vorpal-Blade, having no use for the sword and deciding not to take any chances with the Queen. Whimpering as her weapon was destroyed, the Queen tried to push herself away, only fro Alice to place a foot on her chest and kneel down.

"You've wanted to take my head… however Dear Queen, I believe I'll have yours instead!" Alice stated before swinging the Vorpal-Blade, slicing through the Queen's neck as her head fell away. As her head fell to the ground, it slowly melted away like a Soulless's body would, leaving only a bit of blood behind. Instantly the area around them changed, the Shadows consuming everything.

"Whoa! Alice, you okay!?" Naruto questioned, as he looked around the Darkness, the girl looking around as well.

"Yes, at least I believe I am, heaven knows it's become hard to tell." Alice offered and Naruto rolled his eyes with a slight smile.

"She's fine." Naruto said while Axel conjured some fire, illuminating the area around him and the others. Spotting Alice they walked over to the girl as she looked around, a confused expression on her face.

"So… what happens now?" Larxene questioned and Alice placed a hand to her heart before gasping as a bright light came from her then rose up into the air. The light suddenly formed something, a keyhole of sorts and Axel blinked before grinning.

"Yo, Naruto. Hold a Keyblade towards that." Axel ordered, Naruto looking to him with a confused look before reaching back. Pulling Gears-Of-Madness out just to be safe he pointed the end of it towards the keyhole. Thus the blond boy gasped as a beam of dark energy shot out of the end and into the hole. Seconds later the hole vanished with an audible clicking sound, and everyone was blinded as light suddenly exploded from where it had once been…

--

Elsewhere in wonderland, the light spread, changing the land of Fire and Brimstone into a beautiful grove. The Griffon was flying over it before he then came down and landed with a screech, and then looked to the bright blue sky with a small smile. In Looking Glass Land the sky turned blue as well, the White King and his Queen and followers looking up as well. At a river a statue of Alice crying and a dreary sky changed as well, the statue becoming Alice sitting while the sky turned blue, the grass and creatures around the statue returning to normal as well. Standing before the statue, the White-Rabbit smiled slightly, then looked at his watch and frowned.

"She's fifteen minutes late I see." He noted mostly to himself before deciding to let it go this time as he watched several of Wonderlands inhabitants cheer out in joy. In a vast forgotten asylum, mad children run rampant until the light flashes over them as well, revealing instead of an asylum a vast forest. Within the forest a table is set, and three figures sit for tea. One is a man with a top hat and card, another is a March-Hare, giggling madly while the final figure rests beside them both, its head being used as a pillow while the two had their tea.

"It's good to have you back Hatty!" The Hare said and the Mad-Hatter grinned while raising his cup to his long time friend.

"It's good to be back, Hare." He replied before both took a sip of their tea and looked to the ever-blue sky. Finally at the Mining Village where Naruto and Alice first met, the acid rives vanished, as the gnomes were set free, the elder and mayor looking to see a blue sky once more. Then beside of them, and appearing with a familiar chime, the Cheshire cat walked forward with a light chuckle and a wide grin.

"Good work Alice… I knew you could do it." The cat said mostly to himself while all around Wonderland, the world was returned to its original state, its people celebrating the fall of the Queen of Hearts…

--

Blinking slowly, Alice and the others woke up and found themselves in a grassy field. Getting up, Naruto rubbed his head while Alice looked all around in shock for a few moments. Standing up, Naruto widened his eyes upon seeing Alice before chuckling, drawing her attention. "You're looking pretty good Alice, even considering how you looked before at least." Naruto noted with a grin and Alice tilted her head to one side before walking over to a river and saw herself.

While she was still dressed the same, save a black hair band holding her hair back, fingerless mesh gloves, black Choker collar, and white corset that the queen had been wearing now worn by her instead. Though troubling that she was dressed slightly like the queen now she could also clearly tell she was still herself, only she also looked… better, more alive she supposed.

Her skin was no longer the almost gray color it had been before, now she held a healthy almost cream colored complexion, her features were also fuller, as if she hadn't been half starved for months on end in the asylum, her hair was cleaner, no longer hanging pencil straight from weeks upon months of not being washed as life was returned to it, her emerald green eyes no longer looked broken now they appeared as they had before, lively, if only a bit darker than normal, and the two scars on her wrists from her failed suicide attempt were finally gone…

"I'm… I'm me again." Alice said mostly to herself before standing up and looking at her arms and then did a twirl. Stopping and turning to her friend with a smile she bowed slightly before curtsying to Naruto and the others, pulling her dress up from the sides. "And since I am finally myself again, I'd like to properly introduce myself to my friends." Alice then said while still smiling brightly to them as she rose back up and crossed her arms behind her back. "Good day to you all. I am Alice Pleasance Liddell. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance." She offered happily while Naruto rolled his eyes and crossed his arms behind his head.

"Yeah, we know Alice." Naruto offered while a chime sounded and Naruto and Alice turned to see the Cheshire cat walking towards them with a grin.

"Cheshire-Puss! Your okay!" Alice exclaimed happily and the old cat gave her a wily grin.

"Of course I am. I'm a part of Wonderland Alice, just as everyone else… and, once Wonderland is restored… so are we." Cheshire offered the girl and Alice looked around, standing and seeming confused.

"Cheshire, pray tell, why is it everything looks so cheerful if I'm a Dark-Princess? Shouldn't it revert back to what it was?" Alice questioned and the Cheshire cat merely grinned while looking around and gave a light chuckle.

"There's a little light, even in the deepest darkness. For you Alice, that light is this world." Cheshire explained and the girl grinned despite herself and then turned to her friends as they walked over to her.

"Nice, one world down. God only knows how many left to go." Axel mused while the Cheshire cat and Alice walked over to Naruto.

"Thank you for helping Alice to become herself again. If only a little darker…" Cheshire mused while looking to Alice, the girl grinning slightly as she flipped her Vorpal-Blade and caught it in one hand. "As a reward, I'd like you to have this." Cheshire said before biting a piece of metal from the ground and held it out, Naruto kneeling as he dropped it into his hand. Looking to Cheshire in confusion, Naruto then gasped as Darkness swirled around his and a new Keyblade formed.

This one was had teeth formed out of a Heart, Spade, Diamond, and Club like from playing cards, they were attached to the main shaft of the Key via small barbs that were attached to one another as well, the shaft of the key appeared to resemble the Vorpal-Blade, being silver with etchings only much longer, the center of the guard on this key was a bright red heart, with a pair of curled pipes coming from the sides, the handle was made of wood, with the chain of the weapon ending with a charm that appeared to mimic the Cheshire-Cat's head. (Vorpal-Key…)

"Whoa… how'd you do that Cheshire?" Naruto asked and the cat merely grinned before looking to Alice and sighing.

"Also, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you take Alice with you?" Cheshire questioned, Naruto looking at him with a confused look while Axel frowned for a moment.

"So I was right. She's not actually FROM this world." Axel noted and Cheshire nodded his head once more.

"Her world was consumed by the Soulless, she had to retreat to this world in order to survive. Now, while our world itself is safe from them, perhaps it would be better if she were to accompany you to ensure her continued safety." Cheshire explained and Naruto looked to the girl, then to Axel and Larxene.

"She is a Princess of Shadowed Hearts, it would better to keep her with us if we don't want the Soulless coming back for her while we're gone." Axel mused and Larxene rolled her eyes before crossing her arms.

"So long as she pulls her own weight she can come." Larxene stated and Alice looked to Naruto as he leaned the Vorpal-Key into his shoulder and rubbed his chin thoughtfully…

"Well…" He started before seeing the look on the girls face and grinned. "Sure, why not. We can always use another hand on these adventures." Naruto finally aloud and Alice walked over to stand with the rest of the group. Turning she then gave a curtsy to Cheshire and it nodded its head.

"Good bye Cheshire, till we see each other again." She offered and the cat rolled his eyes before yawning.

"Something tells me, you'll see me again soon enough." Cheshire mused as a Dark-Corridor opened up and swallowed Naruto and the others, taking them off to another adventure…

--

TBC…

--

AN: Here's a list of Naruto's Keyblades…

Dark-Heart: A Keyblade with the corrupting Powers of Darkness capable of creating Heartless from anyone cut by its blade.

Soul-Blade: An inherently evil Keyblade with the power to devour souls.

Gears of Madness: An old Keyblade that once belonged to the Apprentice of Master Xehanort.

Vorpal-Key: A Keyblade forged from a shard of the Vorpal-sword, capable of cutting through anything, even a foot of solid steel.


	24. The Shade

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 23**_: _**The Shade**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(??)

"_Where are we now Master?" Ventus questioned as he and his Master, Xehanort, wondered down a long path in a bright kingdom._

"_It's called Radiant Garden, Ventus." Xehanort replied, arms folded behind his back as he walked with the blond haired youth at his side._

"_And why are we here again?" Ventus questioned while looking to the old man with a confused frown. Smirking, Xehanort reached up and stroked his Goatee for a moment before answering._

"_Tell me Ventus, what is it that makes a Keyblade special?" Xehanort questioned and Ventus blinked before frowning in thought for a moment._

"_Uh… you can use Magic with it?" He guessed and Xehanort gave the blond a look in response._

"_Ventus, does everything I tell you about the Keyblade really go in one ear and out the other?" Xehanort questioned and Ventus whistled innocently while the old man shook his head. "And to answer your question, no Ventus, it's not just that it can use magic." The old man stated with a frown across his lips and Ventus crossed his arms behind his head with a frown._

"_Oh really? Then how come I've heard all those stories about Keyblades just popping into existence?" Ventus questioned while looking to his Master and the old man frowned deeply._

"_Because, Ventus, a Keyblade is born from the Heart and Memories of its wielder. When that persons heart changes or grows stronger their memories create a new Keyblade from the memories and experiences they gained." Master Xehanort explained and then rubbed his chin for a moment. "Now then, which is superior Ventus, a Keyblade or another type of weapon?" The old man questioned of the blond haired youth and Ventus rolled his eyes before smirking up at him._

"_A keyblade of course." Ventus stated and the old man frowned deeper still before turning his head and smirking. Blinking for a moment, Ventus turned as well, then tilted his head upon seeing a man. The man had spiky brown hair, red colored eyes with wire frame glasses, a black eye patch covering his left eye and most of his forehead, and lightly tanned skin; he was dressed in an outfit reminiscent of one of the Royal Guard of Radiant Garden. It was a double-breasted grey jacket with a black belt around the waist and a red heart at his collar, a pair of white forearm length fingerless gloves with hearts stitched onto them, a pair of grey pants, and black boots with silver trim, only with a purple rope tied around his waist with a sword placed into it._

"_Yo." The man offered with a slight grin as he saw Master Xehanort and Ventus approaching, and then placed his hands onto his hips. "So is this the kid I'm supposed to be testing then? He doesn't look like much if you ask me…" The man questioned then noted while scratching one cheek and Ventus glared at the man._

"_What's that supposed to mean? Don't underestimate me just because I'm young!" Ventus warned while forming his Keyblade at his side and the man raised a brow before chuckling in his throat._

"_Seriously, I'm supposed to fight this kid?" He questioned of Xehanort and Ven glared at him angrily, only to stop as Master Xehanort placed a hand onto his shoulder._

"_Yes Xine, you're going to test Ventus here." Master Xehanort reported and Xine crossed his arms over his chest for a moment._

"_And why exactly am I doing this again?" He had to wonder and Xehanort smirked despite himself._

"_Because Ventus here believes the Keyblade is more powerful than any Sword or other weapon." Master Xehanort replied and Ventus crossed his arms with a frown._

"_Well it's the truth." He mumbled and Xine reached up to push his glasses towards the end of his nose. "Besides, what can a swordsman with a missing eye do when he's got to make sure his glasses don't break or fall off?" Ventus then teased and Xine twitched before giving a flat look to a smirking Xehanort._

"_You want him in one piece or can I really cut loose?" Xine finally questioned and Master Xehanort took a mock thoughtful expression._

"_One piece, but don't hold back Xine, he may look young but he is still my apprentice after all." Master Xehanort replied and Xine grinned before pulling his sword from the rope around his waist. The weapon was rather non-descript, being a black double-edged short-sword with crescent shaped guard and blue leather bound handle._

"_Alright then, take a load off old man and let me teach the kid a thing or two about the meaning of humility." Xine offered while pushing his glasses back up along his nose, a smirk across his features as they caught the glare from the sun. Crouching down with his own Keyblade, Ventus watched Xine take an oddly laid back stance, his sword leaned into his right shoulder._

"_What are you doing?" Ventus questioned of the older teen and Xine grinned while tapping his sword into his shoulder._

"_Just waiting on you to make the first move squirt." He replied and Ventus glared at the man heatedly while crouching down into a stance of his own… _

--

Naruto suddenly awoke from the strange dream and blinked his eyes rapidly before rubbing the back of his neck with a grimace. "What is up with all these weird dreams lately?" Naruto mumbled to himself while standing up, and then blinked his eyes as he looked around. "Wait… where are the others?" Naruto questioned while getting onto his feet and looking around for Alice and the others, then grunted in his throat when he saw they were nowhere in sight.

"Oh man. Just my luck, Alice comes with us and I lose them all on an unknown world." Naruto mumbled to himself before rubbing his head, then stopped his rant to look around the area he'd found himself in. He instantly noted the road he was on, the misty haze all around him, the snow falling from the ever-cloudy sky, and what appeared to be a power station to his side… "What the hell…" He whispered to himself lowly as he slowly rose up to his feet and then moved into the misty haze.

Walking forward, the youth stopped for a moment when some "Snow" landed on his cheek. Reaching a hand up he wiped it off, then blinked when he saw black smeared onto his fingers… "It's not snow… it's ash." He breathed out in shock, then shivered slightly before continuing forward, passed a black van and stopped at the threshold of a large town. Blinking for a moment, Naruto quickly looked around this new world with shock clear on his face.

The world was obviously very vast; it seemed to mostly be a city, with ashes falling from the sky like snow and covering everything in whit, and what appeared like mists wafting through the entire place in a haze. Looking forward, Naruto frowned when he noted he could barely see more than a few feet ahead of himself due to the mists, the vague outline of buildings the only other thing he could make out. Looking to his side, Naruto finally noticed a sign and blinked upon seeing a message written over it.

"Welcome to Silent-Hill…" He read to himself before giving a slight shiver, the name clearly disturbing him though he couldn't fathom why. "I must be getting jumpy…" Naruto murmured to himself before rubbing his arms slowly and then made his way into the strange town. Walking through the odd mists, Naruto soon zipped up his Dark-Cloak, then pulled the hood over his face and crossed his arms as he walked further into the strange misty world…

Behind him, a figure peered out from behind the sign. Her dark onyx eyes looked towards him strangely before a twisted smile slowly made its way to her deathly pale and very dirty face…

--

(Yen-Sid's Tower…)

King Mickey walked up the length of his master's tower before stopping before the man's door nervously. In all the worlds he'd traveled, it was only Master Yen-Sid could make Mickey feel insignificant. All it took was a single, angry look from the man and the normally brave king would instantly cower… then again, after that time he'd made all the brooms come to life and nearly flooded his tower completely he wasn't really all that surprised…

Gulping for a moment, King Mickey then reached a hand out and lightly knocked on the man's door. "Come in." Yen-Sid's voice echoed and Mickey gulped before opening the door and looking inside to see his master behind his desk, reading something. "Ah, Mickey, to what do I owe this visit? I sincerely hope its not another mishap with your magic." Yen-Sid questioned then grumbled while rubbing one of his temples with a twitch and Mickey winced at the reminder.

"No, it's nothing like that." Mickey mumbled while walking forward and Yen-Sid motioned for the young mouse to have a seat. Nodding his head, King-Mickey hopped into a chair, and then started to twiddle his thumbs nervously. "Actually, I came to talk about a boy I saw." Mickey admitted while pulling on his collar slightly and Yen-Sid looked to the mouse impassively.

"Why exactly?" Yen-Sid questioned, slowly drumming his fingers on his desk as Mickey felt his ears twitch.

"Well, he… he looked like… like Ventus." Mickey admitted and then looked down as Master Yen-Sid, most powerful magician in all of the worlds of light leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"And?" Yen-Sid questioned with a frown and Mickey gulped while kicking his legs back and forth. This was why Mickey disliked, not hated, but really disliked being alone with his old Master. The man was stoic to a point it scared Mickey, while the man wasn't Dark like some Magicians and Mages he knew, his wild-eyed master certainly gave the impression with his imposing demeanor.

"Well… I was, wondering, if maybe you might know who he was." Mickey admitted and watched Yen-Sid raise a single brow before stroking his beard with one hand and looking down at Mickey. Shivering under his former Master's gaze, Mickey made a note to have Sora with him next time; the old man was much less imposing when he was around the youth for some reason after all.

"His name is Naruto." Yen Sid suddenly stated, drawing Mickey's attention as the mouse blinked for a moment. "Correct?" Yen-Sid questioned and Mickey nodded his head, the old man frowning as he turned slowly and looked out his window, Mickey breathing a sigh of relief. "And he had control of Darkness to a staggering degree… also correct?" Yen-Sid questioned once more and Mickey blinked, honestly wondering how the old man knew so much when he wasn't there.

"Yes Master." Mickey finally replied and heard Yen-Sid hum for a moment before turning back around.

"Then it should be obvious." Yen-Sid stated stoically and Mickey gave him a confused look.

"But… I wanted to know why he looked like Ventus." Mickey stated and Master Yen-Sid nodded his head before placing his hands together on the top of his desk.

"Does it matter why he does or doesn't Mickey? " Master Yen-Sid questioned with a raised brow and Mickey looked to him then bowed his head as a sad look crossed his features.

"Oh, well no… but for a moment I actually… No. He's not Ventus. But… I guess I wanted to hope." Mickey said then mused mostly to himself while Master Yen-Sid nodded his head slowly before closing his eyes. "What should I do Master? Do I stop him?" Mickey then questioned of the old man and he frowned slightly.

"From doing what exactly?" Master Yen-Sid questioned and Mickey blinked before scratching his head… then smiled slightly for a moment.

"Nothing. And I hope he doesn't do anything so I wont have to stop him." Mickey replied while hopping from the chair and grinned towards his Master nervously. "Thank you master." He stated before walking off, Yen-Sid watching the mouse leave with one eye closed before reaching up to stroke his beard once more… Reaching into his desk, Master Yen-Sid then pulled out a crystal ball and closed his eyes while placing his hand on top of it. The crystal then flashed brightly, and the old man opened his eyes and removed his hand from the top of the crystal…

Within the Crystal's depths, Yen-Sid saw a battle taking place between hundreds upon thousands of different keyblade wielders, the legendary Keyblade war from eons ago. They battle was waged between wielders of Darkness, and wielders of Light, each using Keyblades forged from their hearts and memories. Each having different reasons for fighting, even as they continued to utterly destroy one another, neither side willing to bend or fall to the other…

Watching on the old man saw as Kingdom Hearts was opened while a keyblade shaped like twin Kingdom-Keys was held up towards the heavens, thus opening up Kingdom Hearts before a bright flash exuded and flowed across the land. All the key-bearers stopped their fighting upon seeing this fantastic and horrifying event; panting and breathed heavily they turned almost as one and looked towards this startling spectacle, the light spreading out, covering the entire field of battle… until the light suddenly vanished, leaving only their keyblades behind… and thus creating a massive graveyard for all the Key-Bearers keyblades to rest in silence…

Waving a hand, the image faded, replaced by an image of a future event rather than one of the past. This one held a disturbingly familiar event however, as Keyblade-Bearers fought against one another. Darkness against Light, Somebody against Other. Watching the event silently, Yen-Sid watched on as the key-bearers of darkness and those of light fought one another, Allies from both sides also entering into the fray and fighting one another fiercely. Each side seemed to be almost evenly matched, neither giving any more than they took…

All of this was eerily reminiscent to the old war, yet different all the same as a Light Key-Bearer was suddenly knocked away. A man stood up, clad in Dark-Armor with the Kingdom Key and it's Dark Opposite the "Kingdom Key-D or just Darkside" clutched tightly in both of his hands. Raising his hands the Dark-Wielder then slammed them together, forming the same Keyblade that had also ended the original Keyblade Wars, Kingdom Hearts suddenly opening above the battle-field… and then the image stopped, Yen-Sid leaned back at this and closed his eyes, stroking his beard once more as he drummed his fingers on his desk silently.

"Yes… let us hope Mickey. Hope that he chooses the right path… for all our sakes."

--

(Silent-Hill…)

Axel looked to the unconscious form of Tira as he carried her over one arm and gave a soft sigh. "Look, but don't touch." He reminded himself before stretching one arm and then looked around this world with a shudder. "We just had to land on one of, if not the most disturbing places ever created. Didn't we." He muttered to himself before sighing and continuing down the misty streets before seeing something. "Hey!" He called out while rushing forward; soon coming to a bench with a man sprawled out across it with an old duffle bag lying beside the bench.

The man was clearly older than Axel, having tanned skin with an scruff forming over his chin and jaw and short brown hair with a dark gray cap over his head with a wrench on it, he wore a red and white plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up and two buttons undone, a yellow vest with a light attached to his left chest pocket, a wrist watch, a pair of blue jeans and brown leather boots.

Groaning, the man opened one eye, then took a look at Axel and grunted. "Bout damn time someone else found this place." He said mostly to himself before slowly sitting up with a groan and rubbed his forehead. Looking around for a moment, the man then regarded Axel before cracking his neck. "So how'd you get here?" He asked and Axel sighed while shrugging his shoulders.

"Lets just say I followed some friends here and now I've lost three of them." Axel replied and the man grimaced visibly before rubbing his eyes.

"Well that sounds just wonderful." He muttered before turning and standing up, then lifted the Duffle Bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Got a name?" The man asked and Axel nodded his head.

"Of course I do." He replied and the man stared at him for a moment. "What?" Axel asked and the man grunted while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Your name." He grumbled and Axel smirked.

"I believe it's polite to give one's name before asking for another's." Axel replied and the man gave him a look before rolling his eyes.

"Travis, Travis Grady." He offered the red head and Axel nodded his head with a sly smirk across his lips.

"See, now that wasn't so bad now was it?" Axel questioned with a smirk and got a glare from Travis as his response. "Right, right. My name is Axel, got it memorized?" Axel said then questioned and Travis nodded his head before stretching out his arms and back for a moment. Looking around for a moment the man walked over to a map and pulled it down before folding it up.

"C'mon, this place will start to really go crazy if we don't keep moving. Just stay quiet and don't turn on any lights and we should be good for a while." The man ordered before walking off, causing Axel to give him a flat look before following him.

"And why would light or sound be bad?" Axel questioned and the man grunted while looking around the strange place.

"Because it usually attracts monsters." He replied simply while constantly looking around as if he was expecting an attack.

"Monsters?" Axel questioned with a raised brow towards the man and Travis nodded his head with a grunt.

"Ugly monsters, pale, usually deformed, some sort of look like people." He offered vaguely and Axel raised a brow, wondering if he meant Nobodies or something different, though seeing as a Nobodie wasn't usually pale, just wore a lot of white unless they were in the Organization, he was going to go with something else.

"Your way too jumpy." Axel stated and the man grunted before noticing Tira.

"Who's she?" He then asked and Axel looked to the girl before sighing.

"Right now she's kind of heavy. But her name is Tira, got it memorized?" Axel said then questioned once more with a grin and the said girl slowly lifted her head up.

"I'm not heavy…" She mumbled sleepily then yawned before shaking her head. "Where's Master?" She then asked while looking all around and Axel sighed for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck.

"Not here, looks like we were all separated." Axel replied and Tira's eyes widened before she lunged out of his grasp with her Ring-blade and began to run off.

"She always this excitable?" Travis questioned and Axel shrugged his shoulders.

"Haven't known her long enough to tell." He admitted before rushing after Tira with Travis hot on his heels. Soon spotting the said girl, Axel wondered why she had stopped then cursed as he slid to a stop. Before him and Tira, was a massive gash in the ground, looking to either side, Axel noted that there was no way around it without passing through one of the buildings around them. "Well, this certainly isn't normal." Axel mused and Tira looked around the world they were on with a little more scrutiny.

"Would you two not run off like that? It's hard enough protecting myself in this crazy place I don't need to go worrying about you two as well." Travis grumbled and Axel turned his head to the man as he stood behind them, arms crossed over his chest. "Now C'mon, I can lead you around this hell hole, so we can try to find your friends. Just stick with me and don't do anything stupid." Travis ordered the two before turning around and Axel rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression.

"And what exactly constitutes as doing something stupid?" Axel wondered and merely got a glare from Travis as he wandered towards a nearby Hospital. "Right then, c'mon Tira, lets go find your master and the others." Axel stated and Tira nodded her head while looking around, feeling as if something was watching her…

--

(Meanwhile…)

Meanwhile, Larxene was looking down at an unconscious Alice with a thin frown. _'Alright, I've more than waited long enough, it's time for a wake up call._' Larxene thought to herself while cracking her neck and then slapped Alice across the face. Awakening with a yelp, the girl blinked and then glared heatedly at the blond haired woman. "Really now, must you always be so violent?" Alice demanded with a frown and Larxene took a mock-thoughtful expression before smirking.

"Yes. Yes I must." She replied with a nod of her head and Alice gave her a blank look for a moment before huffing.

"Really, why am I not surprised?" Alice wondered to herself while crossing her arms and Larxene shrugged her shoulders. "Oh my, where is everyone else? Did they go exploring while I was out?" Alice then asked while standing up and grimaced before rubbing one of her shoulders. Those Corridors of Darkness seemed to be taxing on her body for some reason…

"Don't know they weren't here when we landed. And I really don't care either. So shut up and lets go find them." Larxene replied while waving a hand dismissively, standing up and then looked around the world and smirked. "Now this is what I call a ghost-town." She mused to herself while walking off, Alice huffing before she followed after the older blond haired girl.

"Excuse me miss Larxene, but shouldn't we come up with a plan to locate our lost friends before actually looking for them?" Alice asked the older girl and Larxene rolled her eyes before yawning and fanning her mouth exaggeratedly.

"Planning really isn't my thing, I'm more a woman of action." Larxene replied simply then waved her hand animatedly as the mist around them got thicker. "Christ, does this stupid Mist have to be so thick?" Larxene wondered to herself and Alice squinted, no longer able to see more than a few feet ahead of herself.

"Dear me, this is the worst fog I've ever seen… and why isn't it cold when it's snowing?" Alice said then asked while looking up and Larxene raised a brow before catching a flake of "Snow" between her fingers and rubbed it.

"It's not snow doll-face, it's ash." Larxene stated and then stopped, Alice doing the same as what she said registered.

"Ash… as in a f-fire?" Alice questioned and Larxene mentally grimaced, one thing she didn't want to do was mess with the girl's trauma, it wasn't in her to be THAT cruel to the girl… not to mention Larxene didn't want a chance of the Queen of Hearts returning anytime soon…

"Yeah, though looks like it's been like this for a while, I doubt we'll see any real fire's anywhere nearby." Larxene said before walking forward once more, Alice following after her. Walking on for a while, Larxene then stopped and then looked down when she started to walk over a ledge. Blinking, she noticed a deep chasm and then backed up, back onto solid ground while Alice looked into the chasm with wide eyes.

"Oh my, how far do you suppose that goes?" Alice inquired and Larxene kicked a rock into the air and caught it. Dropping it into the chasm the two then listened… waiting for over a full minute before looking back to one another.

"Very far." They said to one another before turning away from the chasm and walking in another direction. Looking around the girls saw a nearby theater, and what looked like a records Office, an old pawnshop to their side.

"I believe you were correct in assuming this to be a Ghost-Town miss Larxene, it is a most unaccommodating place." Alice noted while Larxene held up a finger with narrowed eyes as she heard something from nearby.

"Shush…" She ordered and Alice fell silent, listening along with the blond haired woman… then she heard the sound as well. It was a light rattling, looking all around, Alice then saw what she thought was a girl in a blue dress behind an old metal fence and pointed towards her.

"Over there!" She stated and Larxene ran passed Alice, the girl running after the older woman. Larxene saw the blue wearing figure suddenly dart off and scowled, jumping onto the side of the fence she had been rattling she quickly climbed over it and landed on the other side. Listening she heard running and turned to see the figure duck down an alley a ways from them. "Wait for me!" Alice suddenly cried as she climbed over the fence and fell, Larxene easily catching her in her arms.

"You really need to speed up." Larxene stated before dropping Alice onto her ass and ran off after the figure in blue. Huffing, Alice picked herself off of the ground before following after the blond haired nobody. Seeing Larxene, duck into an alley, Alice did as well, and then looked up and saw the figure in blue running up a fire escape. "How the hell I she so fast?" Larxene demanded incredulously before grabbing Alice and flying into the air, hopping from building to building before landing on the level the strange figure in blue had been.

Hopping into an apartment, Alice felt Larxene shudder for a moment and looked up to the woman. Seeing a strange expression across Larxene's face, Alice gave her a concerned glance. "Are you alright?" She asked and Larxene blinked before shaking her head and narrowing her eyes.

"I'm fine." She grumbled out while entering into the apartment and looked around silently. Seeing a folded piece of paper with the Heartless symbol on it lying on a desk, Larxene walked over to it and picked it up. Opening the paper, Larxene saw a crudely drawn picture of a school made in crayon; only the school in the picture was on fire with dark shadows all around it and in one of the windows was a sad almost lonely looking little girl in blue, the sign for the school being misspelled "Skool".

"Oh my… even my nightmares were never this horrific." Alice noted and Larxene slowly nodded her head before feeling her fingers twitch.

"Mine neither…" She mumbled before placing the paper into her coat pocket and then went over to the door. Sighing when she couldn't open it she then walked towards another door and found a bathroom with a hole in the floor. Blinking, Larxene then noticed another note and picked it up before unfolding it…

--

(Mysterious Note…)

Look there's a hole.

--

"Well that's obvious." Larxene said to herself before stowing the note away and looked down into the darkness below. "You coming Alice?" Larxene questioned and Alice looked down and then rubbed her arms nervously.

"This looks horribly unsafe." She noted and Larxene nodded her head with a smirk across her features.

"Exactly why it's fun. Besides, you've done crazier things in Wonderland." Larxene reminded and Alice blinked for a moment before nodding her head, readily admitting that before jumping down into the hole, followed closely by Larxene. Landing with a grunt, Alice looked around before spotting a door to the outside.

"Where are we going then?" Alice questioned and Larxene frowned before shivering for a moment.

"To the closest school, that note must have come from that girl we've been seeing and I want to know why." Larxene stated before walking down the hall, Alice following her and neither seeing as a large figure lumbered out from a room behind them, while carrying a massive bladed weapon in one hand…

--

(Elsewhere…)

Naruto walked further into the odd town, frowning when he didn't see even a single soul alive. "Hello!" He called out while looking around, then shivered at the complete and utter silence. "Where are they… they had better be alright." Naruto mumbled to himself before stopping when he saw a building with the word POLICE over it. "Might as well get some information on this place while I can." He mused while crossing his arms and then walked into the station, instantly noting everything that was thrown to the ground with scattered papers and knocked over furniture everywhere.

Ignoring the ominous feeling he was getting in the pit of his stomach, Naruto walked around the room, collecting any papers with legible print. Soon finished, Naruto pulled a chair up and placed it behind a desk before sitting down. Laying the papers next to himself, the blond began to look over the papers, frowning when he noticed several oddities with the police reports. Shaking his head Naruto held up one report and raised a brow as he read it over silently…

--

(Police-Report #1)

I was called in to deal with a disturbance downtown.

When I arrived on the scene, I found two men fighting with one another at a bar.

While not uncommon, it was odd since neither had had even a drop of alcohol.

At first it seemed like an ordinary dispute between patrons that had gotten out of hand.

However, after a little coaxing from some of the other patrons I learned that it was a dispute between ______ and ______.

Apparently, the argument was started over a private conversation, the other man heard the comment and the argument broke out, then the fight started, and the call was made.

Personally, I really have to wonder how this hasn't happened between _______ and _______ before…

--

Raising a brow at the report, Naruto wondered why some of it was omitted for a moment before placing the paper down. Deigning no interest in it even though it was odd, Naruto looked over a couple other sheets before stopping at one that made him narrow his eyes…

--

(Police Report #2)

Arrived on the scene as fast as I could.

Found unknown civilian lying on the ground with a burnt girl in his arms, having obviously escaped the burning building.

The sheer bravery of the man was impressive, but it was all for naught.

The Girl, one _______ died in the Hospital only a few hours later.

She had been completely covered in third-degree burns; we are still unable to locate her mother, one _______, to inform her of her daughter's condition.

No sign of the man from before, her would be savior, since the initial spotting at the fire from last night.

________ is being blamed for the fire by _______, unknown who is right or wrong between them.

Personal Note: May god have mercy on whatever monster would do this to a little girl, if it were up to me, I would hunt them down until they were put away for the rest of their natural lives.

--

Finished with the report, Naruto frowned; placing it down as he realized it also had omitted information. _'And it mentioned a girl that was burned alive… and I thought I had it bad back in the village…'_ Naruto inwardly murmured, feeling more than a little petty before shaking his head and laced his fingers together. _'It also mentions a man, a mother, and someone blaming someone, who are these people? And what the hell is going on around here?'_ Naruto wondered while closing his eyes, then sighed and opened them before moving a couple more reports, some getting bizarre.

Reading on and on passed more and more bizarre reports, reports of monsters in mirrors, creatures stalking the night, a never ending fire, and of course a demonic little girl being spotted around town. Stopping at a yellowed piece of paper with scribbled writing over it, Naruto frowned to himself before reaching up to stroke his chin while reading the note to himself silently…

--

(Scribbled note…)

Dear God, what have we done…

We should have known, we should have known…

Now their coming, one black as pitch, the other white as ivory, and finally, something much, much worse…

Oh god what have we done, what have we done?

We've damned our souls by turning our hearts to ice…

And now we're paying the price.

She says, she says the end of days has come… and she is the reaper…

--

Frowning when the note ended with that last cryptic message, Naruto looked over the other papers and then sighed. "So what have I learned?" He asked himself while lacing his fingers together with a frown across his face. "One, we have a town that seems to have been forcefully pulled even closer to Darkness than any other Dark World. Two, this world's troubles seem to start when a little girl was burned alive. Three, both black AND white creatures were spotted on this world. Four, several names were omitted from official documents. And finally, it seems as if this world became some kind of a hellish nightmare as time went by for them after the burning." Naruto listed to himself before looking to the side when he heard a rattling.

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto slowly got up and walked towards the rattling. Spotting a trashcan, Naruto knelt down and reached inside, soon pulling out a key with a piece of paper attached to it with a string. Frowning, the blond haired boy untied the string and placed it on the ground. Unfolding the piece of paper, Naruto saw a crudely drawn building with a crudely drawn fire-truck in front of it. "The Fire department?" He wondered to himself while standing up and looked to the key, then flipped it in his hand before stowing it away into one pocket.

Looking up Naruto then took a step back with wide eyes upon seeing the window of the building was now covered in blood. Shaking his head, Naruto ran out of the building and turned on his heel to see what was going on. What he saw, was a simple name written over it, Alessa… "Who?" Naruto wondered before feeling something and turned upon a flash of light nearby. "Aw great." He grunted out upon seeing a Soulless pop into existence, several more popping up around it.

"Well, this explains the "White Creatures"." Naruto mumbled while pulling his Keyblades from his back as the Soulless lunged forward, lashing out at him. Ducking to evade a Prism's sword Naruto then twisted and stabbed it from behind while throwing Dark-Heart from his hand. The Keyblade spun out of his hand and slashed through another Soulless, taking it down instantly before the weapon returned to his hand. Spinning the blades in his hands, Naruto then did a cartwheel to the side to evade a beam of light from another prism.

"You things are seriously starting to irritate me." Naruto muttered before crouching down and lunged at the Soulless and swung his Soul-Blade, causing the Soulless to instantly disintegrate as he did. Landing in a low crouch, Naruto turned his eyes to one side, seeing more Soulless coming towards him before looking to his opposite side to see the same. "Heh, now this is what I call one hell of a Party!" Naruto exclaimed before lunging to one side, throwing his Soul-Blade at a Soulless to destroy before slicing a second Soulless in half.

Evading a Soulless as it vanished and then reappeared swiping its sword at him, Naruto then stabbed Dark-Heart into it while catching Soul-Blade in his free hand. Twirling the weapon he ducked and stabbed it into a Soulless behind him in a single fluid motion. Closing his eyes and smirking, Naruto then twisted around and swung both weapons, sending both Soulless flying into two of their comrades. Opening his now bright amber-gold eyes Naruto grinned before lunging forward; swinging his Keyblades he destroyed two more of the creatures before evading a swing from a Prism.

"Such pathetic creatures!" Naruto stated before lunging forward in a dark variation of Sora's "Sonic-Thrust" move. Slicing into a Soulless, Naruto then put his foot on the side of a building and jetted off of it and into another Soulless killing both instantly. Moving from that Soulless quickly, Naruto stabbed a final one before chuckling lightly before frowning as a portal of light suddenly appeared and a new creature formed out of it…

Like the other Soulless so far it was a pure white color and clearly female in design, also like the others it had a grey metal Cross Flory Fetch over its chests with bolts holding it on, a Cross Moline on its thighs with more bolts, with dagger shaped lower legs, a Halo hovering over its head, this one had a "Cross Bottony" over its face unlike the last few, with segmented grey armor over its forearms and hands, though its fingers were left bear, plates of armor over its shoulders, a pair of silver Manacles, and a metal collar, oddly, around its waist was a pair of belts with two average crosses acting as buckles, cloth coming off of it like a skirt without covering her front or thighs… (Pureblood Soulless: Acolyte…)

"Okay, you're new." Naruto noted with a raised brow while the Acolyte held up its hands before waving them towards the blond. Raising a brow, Naruto then cursed and jumped back as glowing swords of light suddenly rained down where he had been standing only seconds before. "Ah, a magic variation of the normal, almost strictly physical combat orientated Soulless." Naruto mused and then realized his Spellbinder hadn't had made him drone it out.

"Well… that's nice." He said to himself before ducking out of the way as the Acolyte swung its arm, an arc of light flying towards him. Looking back to the Acolyte, Naruto lunged at it, only for it to suddenly vanish. "Shit, they can bend light too…" Naruto muttered while looking around, the Acolyte then appearing behind the blond before quickly summoning a pillar of light from under Naruto, sending him flying into the air. Cursing his luck, Naruto flipped in midair, and watched as the Acolyte held its hands up, spinning swords appearing around Naruto.

Cursing, Naruto launched down towards the ground as the swords formed inwards where he had been. Flipping and landing on his feet, Naruto lunged at the Acolyte, only for it to back up and then launch itself forward, a ring of "Ether-Swords" spinning around it. Cursing as the swords sliced into and then sent him flying back, Naruto placed his hands onto the ground and flipped onto his feet. "Alright, it's tough, built for long range, with one short range attack… this could be interesting." Naruto mused before rearing his arms back and sent arcs of dark energy towards the Acolyte.

Quickly evading the Acolyte then looked around in confusion when Naruto spun into the air and fell into the ground. Coming out under it Naruto swung Soul-Blade, absorbing it instantly as it seemed to scream out in pain. Landing in a low crouch, Naruto smirked while stowing Dark-Heart onto his back. "Well, that wasn't too bad." Naruto mused before hearing a sound from behind him. Turning around, Naruto saw another Acolyte; only a massive black spear had impaled this one. "What the hell?" Naruto mumbled while turning towards a nearby building.

Upon its roof was a shadowed figure, the figure bearing what appeared to be a wing on its right shoulder and spikes on its head. Looking down at Naruto for only a moment longer, the figure then rushed off, out of sight while the Soulless and the spear both faded away. Blinking for a moment, Naruto scratched his head and then smirked, leaning Soul-Blade into his shoulder. "Well, looks like I got someone watching out for me after all." Naruto mused before walking down the street, away from the battlefield with one hand in his pocket.

Walking down the street while humming a tune to himself, Naruto soon spotted the Fire Station and walked over to it. Finding it was locked the blond frowned for a moment before snapping his fingers. Reaching into his pocket he retrieved the key from earlier and tried it on the lock, opening the door and quickly entering he closed the door behind him and looked around. "Hello!" Naruto called out while looking around and then frowned as he leaned Soul-Blade into his arm. "Anyone here?" He questioned and then shrugged before he made his way further into the building.

Suddenly stopping when he saw something written on a nearby wall, Naruto conjured some Dark-Fire into one hand and saw an arrow pointing up, the words "I'm Waiting" written below it. "Okay… I get the hint." Naruto muttered under his breath before turning and walking over to some stairs. Walking up to the next floor, Naruto saw a long hallway and frowned. Walking forward, Naruto reached out and turned the knob of the first door. The door opened with a long creak and Naruto stuck his head inside for a moment before shaking his head.

Walking down the length of the halls, Naruto tried the next few, only to find that they were all locked. Frowning and turning back to the single open door, Naruto walked into the room and looked around. "There has got to be a reason it was open when the others were all closed…" He mumbled while looking around the room, finding lockers inside as well as old items. Checking the lockers, Naruto grumbled as the first few he checked were locked. Eventually he found an opened one and looked inside, raising a brow, the youth pulled a note from it and opened it slowly…

--

(Hidden Note…)

The ritual begins tonight.

Distract your co-workers from coming before it's complete.

Our god will finally rise and cast out the non-believers that dwell here.

--

Frowning when he finished reading the note, Naruto looked back inside the locker and sifted through it. Not finding anything, Naruto closed the door and frowned in thought. _'A ritual… a fireman… and distracting the others… hmmm… Could that mean that girl I read about was in the ritual? Or maybe… burning her alive WAS the ritual.'_ Naruto mused to himself, his eyes turning amber-gold in fury at the very thought of doing something so insane. Shaking his head of those thoughts, Naruto walked out of the room and then looked back to the flight of stairs to the roof.

"Only one way to go from here." Naruto mumbled to himself before sighing as he walked up the flight of stairs to a door. Turning the knob for the door, Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose upon finding it was locked. Using the key from before to open it, Naruto came out onto the roof of the Fire Station and looked all around. The roof was large and spacious, being deserted with almost nothing around save a few vents to the side of it.

'_I wonder who was waiting for me… or if it was even me that they were waiting for?'_ Naruto inwardly questioned before blinking when he heard a light sobbing. Turning, the youth saw a little girl, dressed in a blue dress with dark brown hair that was sobbing into her legs. Walking over to the girl and stowing Soul-Blade away, Naruto knelt down and reached a hand for the girl. "Hey, why are you crying?" The blond asked and then grunted as the girl lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his waist, still sobbing uncontrollably.

Frowning for only a second, Naruto put a hand onto the girls back and let her cry while remaining silent. Soon however, the girl looked up and Naruto's eyes widened as her sobs turned to light laughter, a pair of obsidian black eyes looking into his azure orbs. "I'm not crying, I'm happy…" The girl offered with a twisted smile stretching across her lips before dark energy formed over her arms. "And, I have a gift for you, to a Dark-Knight from a Shadowed-Princess… or rather, the Darkness born of ones heart" The girl offered as the Dark-Energy crawled from her arms and into the blond haired boy's body.

Smirking, the girl then released Naruto and backed away, her form revealed to a fearful young blond. Regardless of her appearance before, the girl was clearly NOT a little girl; she was something far more sinister, her youthful, almost innocent appearance merely belying an underlying evil in her eyes.

Her eyes were deep obsidian black, with red rimming them dirt and grime splattered over her face, her skin was a pale, near white color while her lips were a deep red, her hair was black as a ravens feathers tangled and matted down to her head while obscuring one of her eyes. She was dressed in a blue dress with a white undershirt, a blue band tied around her waist, a pair of black knee length socks, and a pair of simple black Mary-Janes…

Instantly Naruto grunted and then fell to his knees as dark energy spiral around his body, the strange girl merely smirking as she backed away from him. Looking up at her with wide eyes, Naruto saw her look to the side with a frown as several Soulless started to appear around them. "The Cult is sending more of you after me I see." She murmured while crossing her arms then turned her eyes back to the blond haired youth as he fell forward, Darkness wafting from his body in waves, forcing his Dark-Armor out to cover his body. Gripping his helmeted head, Naruto felt his body shake, the overload of power causing sparks, flames, and ice to shift around his form as well as shadows…

Looking around as more Soulless started to appear, the girl smirked slightly before looking back to Naruto silently. "Come out." She suddenly ordered with a snap of her fingers, Naruto screaming loudly as pure darkness flowed from his body and into the air. **"Break my bonds… set me free… and forever more… I shall serve thee…"** A voice echoed in Naruto's mind as he screamed louder still, darkness flowing out of every part of his body. Soon the darkness cleared, Naruto passed out on the ground before slowly rising up into the air, somehow floating. Smirking to herself, the girl watching on as a dark being then started to take shape behind the young blond.

The shape soon formed a hand that was wrapped around Naruto's shoulders protectively; it's body and skin were obsidian black with three bright yellow eyes, one stationed on its forehead, manacles then appearing on its wrists with chains drifting backwards from them only to vanish behind it, a collar around its neck with another chain arching back as well. Then bandages suddenly formed out of the air and wrapped over its form, making an X over its chest before wrapping around its shoulders and neck loosely, then drifted upwards around its throat.

However then more of its true features started to form over the creature, it's body thinning and then taking on a very thin shape, much different to the normally bulky forms of powerful Dark-Creatures, a heart shape cut out of its stomach with red lining the inside of it, long antenna curving off of its head from the top of its head at both sides with red veins crawling along them, its fingers became talon like claws, with red veins covering the backs of its hands, spikes curved from where its hips would normally be, while instead of legs this creature instead had a ghostly wisp of a tail… (Pureblood Heartless: The Shade…)

Looking around, The Shade narrowed its bright amber-gold eyes on the Soulless, poising its clawed hands to strike while the girl smirked. "Remember now. You have to protect your master." She suddenly ordered before walking away without fear as the Soulless ignored her, focusing instead on the Heartless. The Shade then lifted Naruto up with it into the air with one arm, clenching and unclenching its free hand as it looked towards the oncoming Soulless.

It was instantly afterwards that The Shade made its move, vanishing with Naruto it then appeared before one of the Soulless and lashed out. Gripping the form of the Soulless in one hand, kicking and struggling in its grasp, The Shade tossed it into the air. **"SUBMIT!"** The Shade exclaimed as it lunged into the air and then slammed both hands into the Soulless sending it slamming down into the ground as it did. Vanishing once more and retrieving its master, The Shade held the blond up as it formed a sphere of Dark-Energy into its free hand.

Lashing out, the Shade threw the ball of shadows towards the Soulless, the orb slamming into one and completely destroying it. Holding its free hand to the side once more it conjured lightning into it before lashing out, an arc of Anti-Lightning slamming into and then completely destroying the Soulless. Growling low in its throat, The Shade then spun in place, pulling itself into the ground before flying high into the air and lunging down towards the ground. Slamming into the roof from above, a burst of Darkness flew from their bodies, knocking many of the Soulless away as The Shade narrowed its eyes.

Floating back to Naruto and away from the Soulless the Shade then vanished while Naruto began to float in the air, glowing sinisterly. Instantly the Shade lunged out of the ground, flying into Soulless after Soulless, soon leaving only a few of them left as the Shade reappeared behind its master and picked him up once more. Instantly, the Soulless lunged for the Shade, intent on its utter annihilation no matter what the cost. Growling lowly, the creature wrapped both arms around Naruto as they began to glow, then lunged forwards, slamming through several Soulless before stopping and then launched at them once more.

Stopping once that was done, The Shade then flipped away with Naruto as more Soulless dropped down where they had been. Narrowing its eyes, The Shade held its arms to the side and appeared before Naruto as the Soulless lunged forward, their attacks bouncing off of its form as it was pushed back slightly. Finished with that, The Shade appeared behind him once more and then lunged towards one of the Soulless. **"SUBMIT!"** It cried once more, slamming a fist into one of the Soulless before striking into its chest with its sharp claws.

Lifting the light creature up, The Shade then grasped its neck and one of its legs before literally ripping it in half. Throwing the rapidly disintegrating pieces to the side, The Shade then summoned more power as the final two Soulless prepared themselves… it made no difference. The Shade roared out, eyes flaring dangerously before slamming its hand into the ground. Instantly two spikes made of the Shadows launched from the ground, impaling both Soulless and killing them instantly.

Looking on stoically, The Shade then floated over to Naruto before crossing its arms and vanishing into his form, his Dark-Armor vanishing with it, the young blond still lying unconscious on the abandoned roof…

--

TBC…

--

AN: The Shade is a variation of "The Guardian" used by Xehanort. It is currently less powerful than The Guardian, however it is still a being of pure darkness so should not be underestimated. Also, the reason for Naruto having so many Keyblades is because in BBS, Aqua, Ven, and Terra all seem to have multiple Keyblades that they can equip rather than collecting Keychains, thus, thus like them Naruto has multiple blades…

Here's a list of Naruto's Keyblades thus far…

Dark-Heart: A Keyblade with the corrupting Powers of Darkness capable of creating Heartless from anyone cut by its blade.

Soul-Blade: An inherently evil Keyblade with the power to devour souls.

Gears of Madness: An old Keyblade that once belonged to the Apprentice of Master Xehanort.

Vorpal-Key: A Keyblade forged from a shard of the Vorpal-sword, capable of cutting through anything, even a foot of solid steel.


	25. Otherworld

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 24**_: _**Otherworld**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(??)

_Ventus panted heavily as he fell to his knees, then grunted while looking up, Xine smirking as he leaned his sword into his shoulder. Grunting, Ventus pushed himself to his feet and lunged at the man, swinging his Keyblade towards him. "Calm down now kid, you might hurt yourself." Xine noted while evading a slash from Ventus then blocked his keyblade with his sword. "And I'm the one who's supposed to do that for you!" Xine then stated while pushing Ventus back to the ground and smirked once more as the blond haired youth struggled to his feet._

"_I won't give up… I won't lose to you." Ventus stated with panting breaths and Xine frowned, and then rubbed the back of his neck._

"_C'mon kid would you just give up, I really don't want to hurt you." Xine stated and Ventus merely got up only to fall down to one knee. Seeing this, Xine scoffed and then twirled his sword in one hand before sheathing it. "Okay that's it, your done and this fight is over." Xine stated while turning away from Ventus, the boy's eyes flashing yellow as he lunged at the man._

"_Don't you dare turn your back on me!" He stated while swinging his Keyblade, Xine moving quickly pulled his sword out and moved it over his shoulder to block the attack. Narrowing his eye, Xine then pulled down on his sword, the leverage from his shoulder allowing him to tip Ventus' Keyblade back and put him off balance. Smirking, Xine then turned on his heel and slammed the pommel of the weapon into Ventus's gut, knocking him back to the ground._

"_Jeez kid, are you really taking this seriously?" Xine asked while Ventus, rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself to his knees, then glared up at Xine with panting breaths. "Man… and I was really hoping I wouldn't have to injure you as well." Xine said to himself while rubbing the back of his neck, then lowered his sword arm and smirked darkly. "Oh well, I guess can't always have what you want." Xine mused before lunging towards Ventus, gripping the hilt of his sword he somehow split it in two before lashing out at Ventus once more, only for Master Xehanort to quickly intervene, blocking both of Xine's blades with his Keyblade._

"_Enough Xine. You've made your point." Master Xehanort grumbled out and Xine frowned before shrugging his shoulder and sheathed his sword. "And you Ventus, never attack when you're opponent is withdrawing, it merely shows cowardice." Master Xehanort stated and Ventus winced before placing a hand to his head._

"_I… I'm sorry master, I don't know what came over me." Ventus said then admitted lowly, eyes downcast as he looked to the ground. Frowning slightly, Master Xehanort allowed his Keyblade to dissipate while looking to Xine._

"_Thank you for your troubles, Xine, it was time Ventus learned not to underestimate others just because of their weapon." Xehanort offered and Xine rolled his one good eye and then crossed his arms behind his neck._

"_Eh, it was nothing old timer, besides, the Kid needed an attitude adjustment and I was only too happy to give it to him." Xine mused and Master Xehanort nodded his head in agreement with the brown haired man. "Anyways, I'll see you two later." Xine then offered while turning and raising a hand as he made his way towards the castle of Radiant Garden. Turning back to Ventus, Master Xehanort took in then exhaled a breath while looking at the young blond._

"_Tell me Ventus, what did you do wrong today?" Master Xehanort questioned with his arms crossed behind his back and Ventus bowed his head._

"_Do you want the whole list?" Ventus asked with a weak smile only for Xehanort to nod his head stiffly. "I… underestimated my opponent?" Ventus asked and Master Xehanort merely nodded his head while circling the youth._

"_Yes. Yes you did. That is the first mistake of any great warrior Ventus. Never, no matter how strong or weak they may appear to be, must you underestimate an opponent in battle." Master-Xehanort stated simply and Ventus nodded his head slowly. "Anything else?" Master Xehanort questioned while crossing his arms and Ventus nodded his head while looking at his Keyblade._

"_A Keyblade is… is only a weapon… just because it holds great power doesn't mean I'll be able to defeat a more experienced warrior…" Ventus mumbled out and Master Xehanort nodded his head while looking at his apprentice silently._

"_Correct again, The Keyblade is a fantastic weapon, however, should you allow yourself to become foolishly arrogant with it, you will be defeated by one with truly more skill than you. It is the person wielding the weapon that makes it great Ventus, not the weapon itself." Master Xehanort explained and Ventus nodded his head once more. "And?" He then asked and Ventus looked up at him with obvious confusion, Master Xehanort shaking his head when he did._

"_Xine made you get angry Ventus. That is the final lesson you should learn, rage does not equal power. Rage only grants you impatience and stupidity and ultimately your downfall." Master Xehanort explained and Ventus nodded his head once more before bowing his head._

"_I'm sorry Master." Ventus whispered weakly and Master Xehanort sighed while reaching up to rub his face._

"_Ventus." Master Xehanort said and knelt down to look at the young blond key-bearer. "You are still young, experience and wisdom will come in time. But let this lesson give you some now. Never forget today and carry its lessons with you always. Someone with more experience, even with a lesser weapon, outweighs everyone else." Master Xehanort told the youth before standing up and folded his arms behind his back. "Now come, we have much left to do." Xehanort stated and Ventus blinked before looking up and then nodded his head._

"_Yes Master." He said while getting back to his feet, then followed after Xehanort further into Radiant Garden…_

--

(Silent-Hill…)

Naruto's eyes suddenly snapped open and the youth groaned while turning over onto his back. Reaching a hand up he placed it onto his face and grimaced at a throbbing pain in the back of his skull. "What would Master say if he heard me complaining like that?" Naruto suddenly wondered before blinking and rubbing his head. "Why… did I say that?" Naruto wondered to himself before shaking his head and standing up, looking out and around the roof.

"That girl where'd she go? And what did she mean by a gift, besides this very annoying headache at least… I have more important people to worry about for now." Naruto said to himself and walked over to the edge of the roof and looked out over the city, trying to see any of his friends. "Dammit, stupid mist is too thick to see through." Naruto mumbled before crossing his arms and closing his eyes with a thoughtful expression across his face.

"Dobe, you shouldn't think too much, you'll only hurt yourself." A familiar voice commented and Naruto's eyes snapped open before quickly turning to see the familiar face of Uchiha Sasuke leaning into the door to the Fire Station.

"S-Sasuke, is that really you?" Naruto questioned and the black haired boy moved from the door and gave the blond a look.

"What? No hello, no glad to see you? Jeez Dobe, I didn't know you could be so cold." Sasuke said in mock hurt and Naruto gave the black haired teen a fierce glare as his response.

"Thing's change Teme…" Naruto growled out at his former teammate and Sasuke snorted before looking at the blond's new clothing.

"I could tell just by looking at you… But I have to ask Dobe, did you finally get tired of all that orange or what?" Sasuke questioned and Naruto blinked before shaking his head, then crossed his arms with a frown.

"Something like that." Naruto admitted while looking over the Uchiha, narrowing his eyes when he noticed that his Chokatou seemed to be missing. "What are you doing here Sasuke?" Naruto questioned and the young Uchiha smirked while moving from the door, arms crossed over his chest.

"What, no snappy line about dragging me somewhere now Dobe?" Sasuke asked and Naruto gave his former teammate a flat look.

"Nope." He replied simply and walked forward, Sasuke holding out an arm to stop the boy when he got close to the door.

"You really have changed, haven't you." Sasuke noted flatly, eyes looking forward as Naruto closed his own beside the other teen.

"Yeah, I guess I have." Naruto admitted before crossing his arms and turned his head, opening one eye to see Sasuke.

"And I bet you don't even care that our world was pulled into Darkness, do you?" Sasuke questioned while clenching his right fist and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Crying, fighting, screaming, or even obsessing over what happened to our world won't change anything. And there's nothing I can do to change the past… So I'll do what you should have done in Konoha, I'll never look back, and keep moving forward." Naruto stated simply before a slight smirk crossed over his features. "And besides all that, I figured you'd be happy, now Itachi's at least been taken by Darkness and you'll never have to worry about him again." Naruto replied with a slight smirk crossing his face, Sasuke turning on eye towards his former friend.

"I wanted to be the one to kill him for what he did, Dobe… besides, I didn't want our entire world dragged into Darkness… and I certainly didn't want to lose my team to those monsters you've allied yourself with." Sasuke growled out through gritted teeth and Naruto smirked slightly while closing his eyes.

"What's this, the Great Uchiha Sasuke actually cares for someone other than himself?" Naruto asked in mock shock and saw Sasuke's coal black eye harden as he looked at him angrily. "Get over it Teme, everyone from our world was pulled into Darkness… even IF some of them weren't turned into Heartless, there's only a very slim chance that they could survive the trip through the Dark-Corridors to get to another world." Naruto stated simply, a flat expression across his face as he looked at the other teen and Sasuke felt one eye twitch.

"What happened to the hopeless dreamer I remember?" Sasuke wondered aloud and Naruto smirked while closing his eyes.

"I guess he grew up a little." Naruto replied and Sasuke sung his right arm, Naruto rolling out of the way as a sword appeared in Sasuke's hand. Rolling back into a crouch, Naruto narrowed his eyes upon seeing a white sword in Sasuke's hand. The blond narrowed his eyes as he looked at the sword, his hands hovering over his twin keyblades hilts as he did so.

The sword was pure white and it's blade was fashioned into the shape of a single edged short sword with thin blue glass forming into triangles out of the back of the blade and poking outwards, a green sphere was placed at the center of the guard, with four more of the blue triangles poking out from the guard diagonally, with two curls exiting from between the spikes and curling down into the pommel of the sword, blue leather wrapped around its handle with two long tassels hanging off of its end. (Heart-Shredder…)

"New sword?" Naruto asked with a raised brow and Sasuke smirked slightly while looking towards his former friend.

"Yeah, something I got that I can use to kill dark monsters." Sasuke started while taking a stance and Naruto scoffed while looking at the other teen.

"What, you want to fight me now? What for?" Naruto questioned of the teen and Sasuke glared at the blond haired youth.

"Unlike you, I'm more than a little pissed off about our world being destroyed Dobe. And besides that, we still have a score to settle." Sasuke stated and Naruto smirked slightly while reaching back and removing both of his keyblades from his back as he stood across from the other teen.

"heh, Yeah, I guess we do…" Naruto mused mostly to himself while Sasuke came at him swinging his sword. Smirking despite himself, Naruto stepped to the side to evade the first slash, then took a step back as Sasuke swung the sword sideways. Seeing the black haired teen narrow his eyes and lunged forward, Naruto twisted around his body and then effortlessly kicked him to the ground. "Jeez Teme, looks like the light doesn't suit you." Naruto noted mockingly and Sasuke gritted his teeth before pushing himself back onto his feet and took a step back before lunging forward.

Watching on casually as Sasuke jumped into a spinning Slash, Naruto stepped to one side once more while Sasuke landed on the ground in a low crouching skid. "What in the hell are you doing dobe? Step playing around and fight me!" Sasuke stated angrily and Naruto yawned slightly and then shook his head while turning to look at the black haired youth.

"Fighting you would be pointless. Regardless of the Light in you, you have no skill or experience in wielding it. Without that skill or experience, you have absolutely no chance against me." Naruto stated and Sasuke twitched before lunging forwards once more, swinging his sword wildly. While it was true he was used to a much longer sword, also being used to Chakra and not Light, he couldn't believe the Dobe of all people was making him look like such a fool!

Meanwhile, Naruto watched on with thinly veiled amusement, wondering if this was how Xine had felt when fighting Ventus. Seeing the first signs of anger starting to build in Sasuke Naruto mentally shook his head. _'Master was right, anger only makes you impatient and stupid, too bad the Teme never learned this.'_ Naruto mused while twirling his blades in his hands then sheathed them onto his back. "C'mon Teme, you can't even hit me, lets just call it a day." Naruto offered and Sasuke gripped Heart-Shredder's handle tightly while trying to control his, admittedly violent, temper.

Preparing to lung at his former Teammate once more, Sasuke crouched into a stance once more, only to suddenly curse and jump back with wide eyes as a massive sword nearly cut him in half. Blinking in surprise, Naruto turned his head and looked to the wielder of the massive sword and widened his eyes in shock and no small amount of fear upon seeing IT.

The creature had a large rust red colored helmet that covered its entire head and came to a downward flat point, it was about seven foot tall with very pale skin with odd scars over its body, a pair of white gloves with partially stitched together fingers, a white robe that vaguely resembled a butchers smock with heavy black boots worn over his legs, a weapon in its hand that was, in his own opinion at least, ridiculously massive, being as tall as the creature was with a large wooden handle with a single bolt resting in it to hold the blade to the hilt, the entire knife being covered in blood and mostly rusted over. (SH2: Pyramid Head…)

"Shit!" Sasuke exclaimed as the creatures pyramid shaped head turned towards him before pulling its ridiculous weapon up with one arm, Naruto gaping in astonishment as it did. "That fucking thing found me again!" He then shouted while ducking out of the way as PH gripped the hilt of its Great-Knife with both hands and swung down at him. The roof was split under the weight of its sword instantly, Naruto gaping in shock and no small amount of fear while backing away from it.

"Damn, what the hell did you do to piss that thing off Teme?" Naruto demanded as "Pyramid Head" yanked its weapon out of the ground and rounded it on Sasuke once more, swinging for his neck before catching the blade and stabbing it towards him. Evading the massive blade, Sasuke panted, he didn't really know WHY it was hunting him, only that ever since he woke up, it had been relentlessly following and trying to kill him in the most bloody and brutal fashion that it possibly could!

"Kuso, you're getting off Lucky this time Dobe!" Sasuke exclaimed before rolling out of the way as PH swung his massive sword like knife at the boy once more. "But next time, no fucking Boogeyman will stop me from settling the score with you!" Sasuke then called before cursing and running from PH as he swung his Great-Knife at him once more. Seeing the object of his ire was gone, PH looked around before settling on Naruto and walking towards him, dragging the massive knife, causing it to screech as his body twitched and jerked, low painful groans and moans echoing out of its helmet.

Stopping before the blond haired boy, the creature looked down at him silently for a moment. Gulping back his fear as he looked up at the creature, Naruto watched it turn and walk / twitch / jerk away from him, groaning and moaning out in pain as it did so. Breathing a sigh of relief upon seeing it go in the direction Sasuke went, Naruto had to wonder exactly what the boy had done to piss it off so badly. "Well, whatever he did, I'm just glad that thing isn't after my ass…" Naruto mumbled to himself before looking around and jumped off of the Fire Station roof and landed on the ground with a plop.

"Now I should really go and…" Naruto started to say before blinking and looking around as a siren suddenly started to blare loudly. "Oh that cannot mean anything good…" The blond mumbled to himself before widening his eyes as the world around him began to change. First was the ash peeling away from everything, revealing burnt and rusted metal in its place, grates formed on the ground, and flames visibly rising from the ground, the sky was no black as pitch, as if consumed in smog or smoke, and he noticed that dozens upon dozens of Heartless were rising out of the ground…

"Oh shit." Naruto mumbled while backing up, and then turned to see more horrifying creatures than the heartless. Each one was misshapen and twisted, having twitching jerking movements like PH had made only much worse. All of them were pale with odd scarring over their bodies and some seemed almost like men in straightjackets with the way their torso's moved.

"I better find the others and quick, something tells me this place is as close to hell as we're going to get in life." Naruto muttered before turning around and running passed the Heartless as they lunged at the creatures, a familiar girl watching him with a smirk as he passed a building she was looking at him from…

--

(Radiant-Garden…)

Xehanort walked along one of the man walls of the old town, smirking as he soon located the old Royal-Guard's quarters. "I know it has to be around here somewhere…" Xehanort mused, walking into an old infirmary the man smirked upon seeing a small ball of light shining within. "And of course I was right." Xehanort said to himself upon seeing the soul and then reached into his coat and removed the pair of arrow-guns he'd collected from Xigbar. The soul was stationary for a brief moment, only to then fly into the weapon seconds later, causing each of them to give off a strange glow.

"Perfect." Xehanort said to himself as he then placed the weapons back into his coat and walked out of the infirmary. Chuckling in his throat, Xehanort then walked out of the Royal-Guard's HQ before stopping when he saw people below him. "Aren't those two…" He whispered to himself upon seeing Kakashi and Sakura, thus narrowed his eyes and watched them both intently as Zack and Leon half carried Kakashi and Yuffie fully carried Sakura away from the "Villains Vale".

"Man, what happened to you two?" Zack questioned of Kakashi and the silver haired man grunted while being allowed to rest on some steps.

"Some guy… in that weird castle… he's what happened." Kakashi replied while rubbing his head, Sakura being sat down while Yuffie looked around her equipment, then gave her fellow Kunoichi a Potion.

"What guy? That place has been abandoned for a while now." Leon questioned then stated and Kakashi grimaced beneath his mask while Zack used a healing spell on the man to get him back to one hundred percent.

"Thanks." Kakashi said to the man and Zack gave a friendly grin and a thumb's up in response. Looking back over to Leon and seeing his expectant look, Kakashi sighed before rubbing his face. "As for the person, he said his name was Xine." Kakashi replied and Leon blinked then scowled deeply.

"XINE! Oh hell not that traitor!" Yuffie grumbled and Xehanort blinked, then smirked to himself. _'So the First true Seeker of Darkness is still alive after all… I wondered what happened to that fool.'_ He mused to himself while rubbed his chin and Sakura looked to Yuffie in confusion.

"Wait, why is he a traitor? I mean he admitted to all kinds of nicknames including "The Fallen One". But he did leave us alive when he could've killed us…" Sakura questioned then said and Yuffie rolled her eyes while Leon frowned.

"Xine, The Dark-Knight and Cursed Alchemist. Capable of manipulating metal to his will. He and his partner's in the royal guard all had special powers and abilities like that, Braig had the ability to manipulate space, Dilan the ability to control wind, and Aeleus the ability to control rock. Utalizing his power over Metal, Xine could deconstruct and then reconstruct any metal around him into a weapon; hence why he's called the "Cursed Alchemist". When I was still a kid I even once saw him split his sword into two short swords and wield them together before joining them at the hilt to use a double-sided weapon." Leon explained and Yuffie then decided to add in her own two cents.

"Yeah, and he's a Traitor because he vanished just before Maleficent took over Radiant Garden. Supposedly, he and some of the other members of the Royal-Guard got into this really big argument and he left. Next thing we know, we've got Maleficent and her Heartless coming down on our collective Asses." Yuffie explains while crossing her arms and Kakashi frowned for a moment.

"I can see why he'd appear to be a traitor… but Maleficent was the one who locked him up. It's highly unlikely if he's as strong as you're suggesting, that she'd put him into a glass prison like she did." Kakashi stated and Leon frowned for a moment, and then shook his head.

"Maleficent didn't like sharing power, seems more likely she'd get rid of him because she saw him as a threat. Besides, you can't trust the words of a man who's fallen to Darkness, they usually tend to lie." Leon mused mostly to himself and Kakashi had to wonder if it was so cut and dry. While he didn't personally know the man, he didn't seem capable of being as vindictive as he was being accused. Cocky and arrogant, yeah, Kakashi could see that, but not vengeful…

"Regardless, we still have more pressing matters. Now, not only is this Xine guy free, but we've also got the fact he had a Sword forged from Darkness. Thus, that means he has some level of Control over Darkness himself." Zack reminded the others and Leon scowled slightly while rubbing his chin.

"True. Either way with Xine's original abilities backed up with The Power of Darkness, we may have a problem in the very near future." Leon mused and Sakura frowned for a moment.

"Well… when we first met him, he did sort of repair some of that Villains Vale place with his powers over Darkness…" She offered and saw a grimace pass over Leon's face while Yuffie grunted.

"Oh great, that's going to be annoying to deal with." Yuffie mumbled since if Xine could now manipulate darkness into a solid substance then he could form weapons out of thin air without metal!

Listening to this Xehanort rubbed his chin, wondering if he should find Xine for a brief moment before shaking his head. _'Fools, Xine isn't that petty, and that little "Argument" was because we didn't allow him access to our research on the Darkness and the Heartless. Of course, it was only because we didn't that he eventually gained his own powers over Darkness…'_ Xehanort thought to himself silently and then chuckled in his throat, eyes closed as he thought on.

'_Of course, his rather unique abilities with transmuting Darkness are quite intriguing, especially since he formed the original Soul-Eater by combining metal and darkness together. What likely happened to him, was that he was returning from gaining his powers and encountered Maleficent. Likely preserving him as a threat to her plans for Radiant Garden, but not being powerful enough to destroy him on her own, she sealed him away to eliminate him as a threat.'_ Xehanort mused to himself before opening his golden eyes and turning away from the scene below.

"Perhaps I should locate Xine… no, he'll be fine on his own for now. I need to concentrate more on reviving Braig for the moment. And then I'll locate Naruto, it's time his training began in earnest." Xehanort said to himself before opening a Dark-Corridor and walked into, then through it…

--

(Silent-Hill…)

Travis had been leading Axel and Tira around Silent-Hill. First had been a hospital, but with no sign of their friends they moved on, Travis leading them to a Butcher's Shop. Yet again, there had been no sign of Alice, Larxene, or Naruto. Thus, it had all lead them here, to an asylum just at the corner of Travis's map. However, once the siren had started blaring, Travis had started to freak out, saying something or another about finding someplace safe before the world had started changing around them.

Axel and Tira were wide eyed as the world around them changed into something that was clearly out of someone's worst nightmares. Neither of them really acknowledged the still blaring Siren while Travis muttered a curse under his breath and pulled a pair of Gauntlets from the Duffle bag he'd been carrying. "Of all the fucking times." Travis grumbled out while pulling the spiky gauntlets on and looked all around, Tira gaping as Axel rubbed his eyes and shook his head.

Like where Naruto was, the world was comprised mainly by rusty, burnt metal with blood stains everywhere, spikes jutting out of the floor and walls at places with metal grates and moving fans here and there all around them. The Asylum's equipment was knocked over or smashed completely and finally, Heartless were starting to come out of the ground in numbers that made even Axel start to worry.

"Holy shit, when did we fall into Hell?" Axel demanded before backing up as a stream of fire shot into the air from a vent before him.

"It's not hell, this is what I like to call the "Otherworld", it like a different version of the normal world." Travis suddenly explained while Axel looked around with wide eyes, Tira preparing her Ring-Blade as the Heartless turned towards them.

"Why are they looking at us like that?" Tira wondered while backing up and Axel looked from her to Travis before summoning his Chakrams.

"They eat hearts. Luckily for me, I don't have one unlike you two." Axel offered with a shrug of his shoulders while Tira blinked for a moment and then shrugged.

"Me neither." She stated and Axel looked at her in shock.

"B-but… you're not a Nobody." He stated and Tira nodded her head with a psychotic grin across her face.

"My master broke my heart into pieces once, then revived me without a need for such an annoying and trivial thing." Tira replied and Travis looked at her then shook his head as the Heartless started to rush towards them.

"Enough talking, start running!" Travis exclaimed while turning and running from the oncoming horde of Heartless and Tira followed him, Axel doing the same as some Heartless started rushing along the walls towards them. Ducking into a room, Travis saw a Mirror and smirked seeing a slightly altered version of the "Otherworld" they were already in on the other side of it. "Quick, take my hands and hold on tight." Travis ordered quickly getting confused looks from his temporary companions.

"Just do it!" He ordered and Tira and Axel each took one of his hands before he ran and jumped into the mirror, pulling Tira and Axel with him. Landing on the other side in a heap, Axel looked up and then shook his head before turning back to the mirror. Seeing Heartless pounding on the glass in some vain attempt to get in he then turned to Travis with a shocked look on his face.

"How in the hell did you just do that?" Axel demanded of the man with wide eyes and Travis merely grunted.

"There's this little girl in the blue dress, Alessa I think, she gave me the ability to do that when I first got to this place." Travis admitted before sitting back and breathing out a sigh as he cracked his neck then sighed once more.

"How long have you been here anyways?" Axel then questioned and Travis rubbed his face for a moment before removing his gauntlets.

"Don't know… When I first came to this place I saved a little girl from a burning building. She was completely burned all over… I passed out soon afterwards and woke up on a bench. I wanted to make sure the girl was okay, so I started looking for her, and eventually helped her stop a demon from being resurrected through her body." Travis explained with a grimace and then used both hands to rub his face.

"But then… when I had managed to leave. Everything just… restarted. I woke up on the bench again, helped the girl again, but it was different. Each time I went through this place, things would change. Small things, buy I noticed them." Travis admitted while shuddering for a moment as he closed his eyes. "I don't how long I've been trapped in this place. I don't even know if I'm alive… or dead anymore. I can't tell if this is hell, or some kind of limbo… I just know I have to keep moving forward." Travis replied while leaning his head back into a wall and Axel frowned towards the man, a bit of sympathy leaking into him for the guy considering his plight.

"What about now?" Axel questioned and Travis shook his head and then placed his Gauntlets back on while pulling a pair of Night-Vision Goggles from his bag.

"Now things have changed completely since nothing is happening like it did before… and we need to go find a way out of here that doesn't lead to more of those black creatures. Then, we find your friends." Travis stated simply while walking passed the two and opened a door. "C'mon, the monsters in this place haven't been as numerous since those black things started showing up." Travis ordered and Axel and Tira placed their hands onto his shoulders, then all walked out of the room as Travis guided them down a dark desolate corridor…

--

(Elsewhere…)

Alice and Larxene walked into the school of Silent-Hill, both walking down the halls and passed numerous ash-covered lockers. "This place gives me the creeps." Larxene muttered as they made their way into the odd school, Alice looking around and shaking her head.

"Really, why is their ash in here as well? Shouldn't someone have cleaned this place by now." Alice wondered then stated and Larxene raised a brow before rolling her eyes, giving up on trying to figure out if she was insane, or just messing with her. "Where are we going exactly?" Alice then asked the blond and Larxene looked at the picture she'd picked up and nodded ahead.

"To the window in the picture. If this girl wanted us to find her, that would be the first place I'd check." Larxene replied before spotting an open door and couldn't help a slight smirk that crossed her features. "And there is where it is." She stated while walking over to the door and pushed it open to find an ordinary classroom. Turning to look at Alice she then walked over to the window in the picture and started looking around for a note or even a picture to lead them to that odd girl.

Meanwhile, Alice walked between the many desks in the room, soon stopping on one with a pair of handprints clearing the dust away. Blinking, she wiped it off, and felt her eyes widen upon seeing numerous carvings of "Witch" among other even more vile things in its wooden surface. "Miss Larxene, I believe I've found something." Alice called and Larxene blinked for a moment before walking over to the girl and looked over the surface of the desk and frowned.

"Okay… now that is disturbing." She murmured to herself before reaching down and opened the desk up. Blinking, Larxene pulled out a book and shook her head for a moment before sighing. "I think this is for you…" She grumbled while holding the book to Alice, said girl taking it and reading the cover.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?" Alice questioned before smiling as she recognized the book. "Oh yes, dear mister Carroll wrote this when I was still little…" Alice said mostly to herself while opening the book while Larxene stared after the dark auburn haired girl tiredly.

"She has her own book… Why am I not surprised?" Larxene wondered aloud before sighing while Alice was looking at something intently. "Find anything?" Larxene asked while looking through the other items in the desk, stopping at what looked like a very old Pocket sized radio. Blinking for a moment, Larxene held it up and shook it, raising a brow when she noticed it had batteries. Turning it on, she frowned upon hearing only a low static hum but placed it into her pocket regardless. In response to Larxene's earlier question Alice held the book open and pointed to a name written on the inside of the cover of the book.

"Property of Alessa Gillespie." Larxene read aloud and then crinkled her nose in confusion while Alice frowned for a moment.

"If I'm not mistaken, Alessa is a variation of Alyssa, and Alyssa is a variation of Alicia, and Alicia is a variation of my name, Alice." Alice replied with a matter of fact tone and Larxene raised a brow while looking at the younger girl.

"And I should care… why?" Larxene questioned flatly, giving Alice an annoyed look to punctuate her mood.

"Don't you find it the least bit odd that the girl who owned this book also has a similar name to mine?" Alice questioned with a slight frown towards the blond haired woman and Larxene shrugged her shoulders in response.

"Not really, you do have a common name after all." Larxene reminded the girl and Alice blinked before nodding her head after a moment of though to contemplate that.

"I guess you do have a point." She mused before looking back to the book and flipped through several pages.

"Yeah well whatever, lets just get out of here before something bad happens." Larxene stated and Alice wondered why she had to say that, considering that whenever someone said that, bad things usually happened. Following the blond woman while thumbing through the book, Alice blinked as she read about her journey through Wonderland and raised a brow.

"Was I really like this?" She wondered to herself, noting it mentioned her vanity and "love of showing off" as it were… not to mention it seemed she'd cry over almost trivial things, and liked being a know it all from the looks of it.

"Probably…" Larxene said with a shrug then stopped when she heard a siren start blaring. "Am I the only one hearing a siren?" Larxene questioned and Alice looked around before shaking her head. "Good, then at least I know I'm not going crazy." Larxene mused before blinking as the world around them started to change. The ash peeled away from the walls, revealing rusted bloody metal while metal grates made up a large portion of the floor, fire billowed up through the grates and upon looking back into the classroom from earlier, Larxene saw that a massive spike came through the floor, a circular hole around it with what looked like corpses hanging from chains around the edges of the room…

"Oh my god…" Larxene whispered while a pale Alice looked all around herself, shock and fear clear over her face. As soon as this happened, the radio Larxene had picked up started giving off a static screech, the woman pulling it out of her cloak started to slap it. "What the hell is wrong with this thing?" She wondered while shaking the object. Alice however, saw several Heartless, Shadows and Neo-Shadows to be exact, start to claw their way out of the ground nearby. Thus Alice quickly grasped the sleeve of Larxene's cloak and tugged on it urgently, eyes wide in fear.

"M-miss Larxene, I would very much like to leave now." Alice then stated urgently and Larxene blinked, stopped slapping the Radio and turned it off while looking towards the Heartless apathetically.

"Their just Heartless Alice, nothing really scary about them considering you're a Shadowed-Princess and I have no heart." Larxene offered with a shrug then shook the radio she'd been fiddling with before hearing a different loud screeching sound suddenly echo down the halls. Thunk, thunk, SCRAPE the sound echoed as Larxene prayed to whatever god was watching that it not be something big and nasty that wanted to kill them both brutally. Gulping, the blond haired woman slowly turned around and then cursed loudly, Alice turning on her heel and gasping in fear as something approached them from behind, a massive knife dragging and screeching along the ground at it's side.

The creature looked like a seven foot tall, muscular man with very pale skin with black veins and scars running across its body, it wore a bloodied robe like object around its waist that appeared vaguely reminiscent of human skin with a pair of heavy straps around his waist to hold it up, and it had a massive rusty red / black and girded tetrahedron worn over its head and coming to a sharp downward point with bolts holding it onto its shoulders… however, the weapon it was wielding was a ridiculously enormous giant knife that was seven feet long, pommel to tip, the blade being almost two feet wide and very thick, made of a rusty blood soaked metal with a serrated edge half way down its length, while the hilt was made of wood with a slimmer handle. (SHtM: Red-Pyramid…)

"Holy crap!" Larxene exclaimed as the creature lumbered closer and closer to them. Thinking quickly, Larxene formed her knives into her hands and then threw them into the hulking figure. However, her eyes then widened as it barely stopped before continuing towards them. "Well that didn't work." She muttered before grabbing Alice's wrist and pulled her by the wrist, running passed the Heartless as they lunged at the massive Pyramid-Head.

Groaning lowly, Red-Pyramid grasped it's Great-Knife's hilt with both hands before swinging it, slicing through several of the weak Heartless before turning the blade and bringing it down in a massive chop. More Heartless were felled by the Great-Knife before Red-Pyramid lumbered after Larxene and Alice. Crushing Shadow Heartless under its massive feet before grunting as they started to push him back with sheer numbers on their side. Groaning out in agonizing pain, Red-Pyramid crouched back before ramming his head forward, knocking the Heartless to the side and killing several of them almost instantly. Having passed the small blockade of Heartless, Red-Pyramid then lumbered onwards, after the two girls…

Said girls ran down the man halls of the school, soon coming to the doorway only to pale. The doorway they had come through was now blocked, numerous desks and other items in their way. "Oh c'mon!" Larxene complained before turning upon hearing the heavy thuds of Red-Pyramid once more. "We've got to hide." Larxene then stated while Alice looked to the woman strangely.

"Since when do you hide from anything?" She asked the older woman seriously and Larxene glared at the younger girl furiously.

"Did you not see the fucking size of that thing and it's knife!" Larxene demanded and Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"I figured you'd have seen bigger." Alice admitted and Larxene grunted before looking around.

"Only bigger things, never something that has made me want to piss myself like that monstrosity does." Larxene admitted before grabbing Alice's wrist and ran down a nearby hall, Red-Pyramid turning to see the doorway they had stood at only a scant few moments before. Running through the school, Larxene blinked when she heard the Radio she'd found start to give off a strange static screech once more. "Shit, what next?" She wondered to herself before seeing what looked like demonic children down the hall, bodies gray and misshapen with knife like fingers as they crawled over one another while coming towards them, a wailing screech echoing from them.

"M-Miss Larxene!" Alice said urgently and Larxene turned her head to see Red-Pyramid making his way towards them from the other side of the hall.

"Talk about your rock and a hard place…" Larxene muttered before grabbing Alice and yanking her down a hall nearby, the Grey-Children and Red-Pyramid still coming towards them. Running down the hall, Larxene checked as many of the doors as she could, cursing as none of them would open. Coming to the end of the hall and a dead end, Larxene finally found a door and threw it open. Lunging inside she pulled Alice in as well before slamming the door closed. Looking around she then bent a metal pole nearby down and forced it down to close the rusted door shut.

Backing away from the door as the Thunk-Thunk-Scrape of Red-Pyramid echoed, closer and closer, Larxene placed a hand to her chest. "Shit… what the hell are those things…" Larxene wondered to herself while placing her back against the wall, Alice on the floor, clasping the book they'd found to her chest with wide eyes. All was silent after one finally thunk from Red-Pyramid, and then when nothing else happened Alice blinked before looking over to Larxene.

"D-Do you suppose th-that it w-went away?" Alice questioned only to scream as Red-Pyramid's Great-Knife tore through the door.

"DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR FUCKING QUESTION!?" Larxene exclaimed while backing away from the knife, Alice ducking under it as it twisted and turned in the door, soon forming a massive gash. Soon the sword started to randomly swing at the two, Alice ducking down further while Larxene ducked low and crawled over to the other girl. Once this was proven to be ineffective, the sword was yanked out of the door and a pale arm reached inside and started grasping for air. The arms of the Grey-Children and their loud wailing screeches echoed in the small room.

Red-Pyramid's arm started to grasp randomly over the door, soon grasping the metal bar that was holding the door closed. Widening her eyes, Larxene watched as Red-Pyramid started to jerk up on the bar, partly pulling it upwards and loosening the door. "Oh of all the ways I could've died, this was SOOO not the one I would've picked." Larxene uttered as the arm started to push the door open while lifting the metal bar bracing the door closed. However, before the beast could fully open the door, the world around them started to change once more.

The arm stilled and pulled itself out of the hole, the arms of the Grey-Children following it as Red-Pyramid walked away while still dragging his massive weapon. Panting, both girls then watched as grey ash started to cover the area once more, soon completely covering everything just as it had done before. Blinking, Larxene then noticed that Alice was holding her tightly and twitched before pushing the girl off of herself. Blinking, Alice looked around warily before breathing out a sigh of relief and leaned her head into the wall behind her as they were back in the "Misty" world of before.

"W-what was that horrific place…?" Alice wondered as she tried to regain control of her breathing and Larxene leaned her head onto the girls as she tried to do the same.

"The closest thing to Hell on earth I've ever seen…" Larxene mumbled with her eyes closed and then yelped when something banged into the door, a black arm reaching inside of the room and grasping the bar. "Oh c'mon!" The woman exclaimed as the bar was pulled off and the door thrown open. Blinking, Larxene then snarled upon seeing Axel, the red haired Nobody breathing a sigh of relief upon seeing her and Alice.

"Man, thank god you two are okay." He said aloud only for Larxene to lunge at him, grab him by his cloak and slam him into the door with a snarl. "Shit, what did I do this time?!" Axel demanded and Larxene merely slammed the back of his head into the rusty door.

"Never ever do that again!" Larxene shouted at him and then released him while Travis and Tira watched on.

"What did I do?" Axel asked while looking to Alice and the girl sighed.

"You scared her…" She replied and Axel scratched the back of his neck, wondering when he became scary. "Oh, have you seen Naruto, is he with you?" Alice then asked while looking around and Axel visibly grimaced.

"We were kind of hoping he was with you." Axel replied and Alice shook her head, the red haired man frowning to himself as she did. Meanwhile, Travis blinked before leaning over to Tira with a confused look across his face.

"She always that violent?" Travis questioned while pointing to Larxene and Tira grinned up at him for a moment.

"Mostly." Tira admits while Travis shakes his head and Larxene glares at the newcomer angrily.

"Whose this guy?" She asked angrily while crossing her arms, Alice brushing her dress off as she walked out of the room as well.

"Please excuse miss Larxene's rudeness kind sir, but we were just chased all throughout this place by some large creature with a very large knife." Alice offered with a bow of her head and still holding the book from before, Travis staring at her for a moment…

"And you are?" He asked and Alice blinked before gasping.

"Oh dear me, I'm so sorry, I'm Alice Pleasance Liddell." Alice said with a slight curtsy to the man and Travis raised a brow. "This is Miss Larxene." Alice then offered while motioning over to the said blond woman who rolled her eyes. "And it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Alice then offered with a smile and Travis looked to Axel with a raised brow.

"Who still talks like that?" He asked seriously and Axel smirked crossing his arms over his chest.

"Apparently, she does." He replied with a smirk and Travis grunted before rubbing his eyes and noticed the book Alice was holding.

"Mind if I take a look at that?" He asked and Alice blinked before handing it over to him silently. Taking the book, Travis flipped through several pages, and then looked over it intently before reaching between the spine and pages. Smirking, the man pulled a key out from it and looked it over for a moment. "A hotel key." He stated simply with a nod of his head Axel gaped towards him.

"How did you know that would be there?" Axel demanded and Travis rolled his eyes while pocketing the key.

"I've been in this place for a long time, I've learned most of its tricks." He replied with a smirk before turning and looking around for a moment. "The one place where none of the usual monsters start popping up…" He mumbled to himself before placing his hands into his pockets before walking off.

"Who was that guy?" Larxene suddenly demanded and Axel placed an arm over her shoulders.

"He says his name is Travis Grady, seems to be from this world, and really knows his way around." Axel replied and Larxene gave him a look before looking to the hand on her shoulder. Scowling, the blond haired woman removed his arm and then crossed her own over her chest.

"Keep your mitts to yourself…" She grumbled angrily before stalking off after Travis, Tira snickering before following after the blond haired woman. Blinking, Axel let out a sigh upon seeing the two leave and then looked over to Alice as she turned to him.

"Sometimes it just doesn't pay to get out of bed." He mumbled while rubbing his head and then ran after the others, Alice following after him as he did.

--

(Meanwhile…)

Naruto frowned while making his way into an old junkyard, having somehow escaped the hellish otherworld and found himself here of all places. "Where the hell are the others?" He wondered aloud before suddenly yelping as he tripped over something. "Dammit, I really need to watch where I'm going." Naruto grumbled to himself while turning around and sitting up. Blinking, the youth saw an old mask lying against something and reached out for it. Turning it around he saw it was made of a thin metal and was colored pure white.

"Weird…" He mumbled to himself before turning it around, finding it was fashioned into the shape of a skull the blond wiped some dirt off of it. Raising a brown when he found that it had white lenses for eyes and a bright red X crossing the right one… "You know… this seems really familiar somehow." Naruto noted while looking at the mask for a moment, then held it up and looked through its lenses with a smirk. "Yeah, really familiar…" He then said with a nod before rubbing his chin as he considered what he should do with the old metal mask. Flexing it, Naruto was surprised by it's durability but then tossed it to the side and heard it clang as it hit something.

"I don't really need a mask anyways." Naruto mused while pushing himself onto his feet and brushed off his pants. Looking around the junkyard once more, Naruto placed his hands into his pockets before walking further into it. "Shit, what is with all the junk from other worlds around here?" Naruto muttered to himself while walking through the junk-yard, then stopped when he saw a figure in blue run by. Blinking for only a moment, Naruto then frowned before rushing after the girl with a scowl across his lips. Turning and making his way around piles of old cars and other trash, Naruto soon saw the girl crawl under a gate and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Shit, was it this much trouble when AnBu chased me?" Naruto suddenly wondered and mentally felt sorry for causing those AnBu this kind of hell. Shaking his head once more, Naruto rushed forward and tried to climb under the fence, frowning when it was too small a hole. "I could probably cut it…" Naruto noted before reaching back and pulled the Vorpal-Key from behind him. Taking a step back, Naruto cut through the fence and made a large enough hole for him to get through. Making his way passed the fence; Naruto looked around and blinked upon finding himself in a large familiar forest.

"What the hell…" He then whispered before rushing through the forest, noticing bent grass and snapped twigs as he followed the trail. Soon coming to a clearing, Naruto looked around while walking towards the center of the clearing. "Alright, now your going to tell me what's going on here?" Naruto demanded to know while turning all around, not staying still until he saw the girl from before standing a short ways from him. Seeing a smirk on the girls pale features, Naruto gripped the handle of the Vorpal-Key tightly. "Just who… or what the hell are you?" Naruto asked flatly while looking at the strange girl and she merely smirked while crossing her arms behind her back.

"I have… many names." The girl offered with a thoughtful expression before turning her dark eyes towards the youth. "But… in this form, you may call me Dark-Alessa." DA allowed with a curt bow and Naruto frowned slightly, and then leaned the Vorpal-Key into his shoulder.

"This form?" Naruto questioned and DA merely smirked while backing up into the forest again. "Hey!" Naruto called as she quickly turned and ran into the forest, soon vanishing, as she seemed to blend into it. Preparing to run after the girl, Naruto cursed and flipped back when a spear lodged itself into the ground before him.

"You shouldn't trust her." A calm voice stated and Naruto turned, eyes widening when he saw it was a Soulless of all things that had spoken to him. However after blinking for a moment, Naruto raised a brow when he saw that this Soulless was vastly different to the one's he'd seen thus far.

The few things similar to other Soulless about this one was the bolted metal Cross Moline placed on each of her thighs, and the bolted metal Cross Flory Fitch over her torso, different was that this one wore a completely midnight black suit, she had no Halo over her head, rather, she had a simple Heraldic Cross over her mask with spikes formed over her head and bolts holding it down, long silver hair reaching out of the back of her mask, and her legs ended in feet, with pointed silver armor over her knees, toes, and the backs of her heels. This creature wore silver segmented armor over her forearms up to her biceps, more segmented silver armor over her fingers, a metallic collar around her neck, steel grey metal plates were formed over her shoulders, a massive black wing stretched off of her right shoulder, a pair of white belts were placed around her waist in an X with Heraldic Cross as the buckles for each. (Soulless: Heretic…)

"You shouldn't stare at me like that, people might get the wrong idea." The Soulless suddenly commented in a dead monotone, arms crossed over her chest as she sat on a branch in a large tree. Blinking in surprise, Naruto then shook his head as the Soulless suddenly rolled out of the tree and landed on the ground in a low crouch.

"What are you?" Naruto questioned as the Soulless stood up and looked around for a moment before walking over to him.

"I'm a Soulless that retained its heart and memories. Unlike the other's, I have my emotions to help me tell right from wrong, thus, I'm not a religious nutcase. I know that Dark and Evil aren't the same thing unlike the other's, thus why I'm not attacking you." The Soulless explained, once more in a monotone and Naruto blinked for a moment.

"Then, what's with your voice?" He asked and the Soulless twitched slightly.

"I always talked like this…" She replied flatly and Naruto decided he didn't want to know before looking around.

"Okay, then can you tell me what happened to this world?" Naruto asked but before the Heretic could answer a beam of light hit the ground.

"Later, we have bigger problems to deal with." She said quickly while throwing her arm to the side, conjuring a black staff with silver metal armor forming into a guard that reached off of the weapon while more silver formed into a spearhead with blue glass formed as an edge. Seconds later the light disappeared and a creature was shown crouching before them. Narrowing his eyes Naruto quickly pulled his Keyblades from his back and crouched into a stance.

Now before them was a, strangely, Male Soulless, this one completely white like the others with a halo over its head, it's legs forming into sharp daggers below the knees, a bolted metal Cross Flory Fitch over its chest, Bolted metal Cross Moline over each of it's thighs, and a bolted Metal Cross Pattee over the front of its mask. Added to it was what looked like a massive shield formed out of its right arm, a Heraldic Cross formed over the front of it with blue glass along its edge, a bolted steel collar, steel bands over each bicep with metal armor curved over each shoulder and came together at one point at her back, and last was its left arm, which had been formed into a large double edge sword with blue glass forming it's edge… (Pureblood Soulless: Crusader…)

"Great, this looks… challenging." Naruto grumbled while the Crusader slowly got up and held its shield forward, its sword held at its side. Instantly the Crusader lunged forward, light forming before it and superheating its shield as it rammed into the Soulless Heretic, knocking her back. Seeing this, Naruto lunged at the Crusader, only for it to turn its sword on him. Cursing and quickly blocking with both of his Keyblades, Naruto was thrown back by the Soulless while The Heretic lashed out with her spear to its back. Grunting the Crusader, twisted around slamming its shield into the Heretic and knocking her back onto her ass.

Rushing the Soulless, Naruto was then thrown back as it erected a barrio of light around itself, three brightly glowing orbs of light floating around it. "What the hell!" Naruto demanded before flipping back as the Crusader lunged at him with its sword, swinging at him quickly.

"The orbs allow it to focus its power into a barrier, destroy them if you want to be able to attack it!" The Heretic stated quickly before blocking as the Crusader charged her, forcing her down to one knee. Quickly lunging at the Crusader, Naruto swung Dark-Heart into one of the orbs, causing it to be snuffed out and drawing the Crusader's attention from the Heretic. Turning around the Crusader slammed its shield into Naruto, knocking him back as it lunged at him. The Heretic thus threw her weapon in the air and caught it before throwing the spear, taking out another of its defense orbs.

Thinking quickly, the Crusader held its arms out, the Halo over its head floating forward and then opening up into a gateway. Instantly six Prisms lunged out of the gate and surrounded the Crusader, Naruto grunting as they did. "Why is it only the male Soulless are this ridiculously strong?" Naruto wondered aloud while the Heretic formed her spear back into her hand and twirled it in her grasp as the Prism's swung their swords and took stances.

"Because a Female Heartless is at least three times more powerful than males…" She replied in another dead monotone and Naruto grimaced, and then shrugged his shoulders, that made about as much sense as anything about the Soulless after all. Cursing, Naruto then flipped out of the way as a Prism came at him swinging, thus the blond stabbed into it with his Soul-Blade. Meanwhile the Heretic ducked under an attack from another Prism before stabbing her spear into it and throwing it into some of the others. Turning on her heel the Heretic then stabbed the Spear into another Prism before jumping up and slamming it down into another.

Meanwhile, Naruto stabbed the last Prism with his Soul-Blade before then holding his Keyblades at his sides. The Crusader merely swung its sword before forming light over its shield and charging at the blond. Flipping over the attack, Naruto threw one of his Keyblade's and destroyed the final orb holding its barrier up. The Heretic then quickly attacked the Crusader as it stopped moving, causing it to grunt as she swung up into its chin, then stabbed forward before twisting on one heel, knocking it back into a sturdy tree. She then threw her weapon into the air before catching and throwing it, stabbing the Crusader threw the chest as the spear's head came out of the back of the tree she pinned it too.

"Nice one." Naruto noted only to gape as the Crusader pushed itself forward, off of the Spear and started to float up into the air, twitching violently. "That's bad, isn't it?" Naruto questioned and the Heretic backed up for a bit and then summoning its spear back into its hand.

"You have no idea…" She replied curtly before ducking out of the way as the Crusader held its shield into the air, light flowing into it and throw its body. Aiming its sword down the Crusader fired a great beam of light down at the blond haired boy and the Soulless Heretic, watching on silently as they dodged and evaded the attack. Growling lowly, the creature then slammed into the ground a round orb of light expanding from its body and knocking Naruto and the Heretic back into a couple trees.

Grunting, Naruto rubbed his head while the Crusader then slashed the ground, sending an arch of light from the weapon, along the ground and heading towards them. Cursing lightly, Naruto lunged at the Heretic and knocked her out of the way as the beam of light cut a tree in half. "You okay?" Naruto asked and the Heretic pushed him off of herself while getting back up as the Crusader aimed its sword at them.

"I will be when you start taking this seriously." She replied curtly, and then lunged out of the way as the Crusader fired a beam of light out of its weapon. Seeing the attack coming, Naruto rolled under the beam and then lunged at the Crusader, slashing into its back before kicking it away. Grunting, the Crusader flipped and landed in a crouch before piercing the ground with its sword. Instantly, blades of light started to pierce the ground and point upwards. Cursing Naruto when one nearly got him from below Naruto quickly started rolling out of the way of the swords. Noticing that they only appeared from bright patches on the ground and quickly evaded them, soon glaring at the Heretic when he landed next to her.

"What do you think I'm doing then, playing with this thing?" Naruto demanded of the Soulless and she tilted her head to one side.

"With the amount of Dark-Energy your putting off… yeah, I'd say you are." She replied curtly before kicking him out of the way and rolling to the side as the Crusader sent another arch of light shooting towards them.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Naruto demanded of the Heretic and she spun her Spear, an orb of both Light and Darkness forming in front of it before she slashed her spear, sending an arc of energy into the Crusader.

"Soulless are sensitive to energy patterns, and frankly your putting off enough to register as a Dark-Side or above." She replied before cart wheeling to one side and then stabbed her Spear into the ground a swirling spike coming out of the ground and into the Crusader. Grunting, the Crusader flipped in midair before rearing one arm back and swinging it, an arc of light heading straight for Naruto. Cursing, the blond rolled out of the way before throwing Dark-heart into the Crusader and knocking it out of the air.

"Yeah well sorry but I have no idea what you're talking about." Naruto stated before cursing as the Crusader flipped up and fired a beam at him from the tip of its sword once more. Rolling out of the way, Naruto narrowed his eyes on the Crusader, dark energy swirling around him. "Dammit… this thing is really starting to piss me off!" Naruto exclaimed as his eyes turned bright amber gold and the darkness swirled around him. Seeing this, The Heretic took a step back while the Dark-Energy formed into the familiar form of The Shade behind Naruto…

"Well that certainly explains all the extra darkness…" The Heretic mused to itself while Naruto placed a hand to his head, the Shade lifting him off the ground with its powers. Grunting, Naruto looked to his side and saw the three-eyed fiend for the first time, then groaned as pain shot through his mind.

"W-what are you?" Naruto wondered aloud, and then heard a strange almost distorted sounding voice reply.

"**I am The Shade, your servant and Guardian…"** The Shade replied before looking towards the Crusader as it held its shield forward. **"And questions should wait until all enemies are silenced!"** The Shade then rumbled and Naruto turned his bright amber gold eyes towards the Crusader, a smirk crossing his features as he crossed his arms over his chest and the Shade placed one hand onto his shoulder while clenching and unclenching its free hand at his side.

"Agreed." The blond said before the Shade wrapped its arms around him and charged the Crusader at the same moment it charged. The two attacks slammed together, a blast of light and Darkness sending the Heretic flying into the air. Opening her one wing the Soulless found herself floating above the battle as the Crusader fell to one knee, its shield now utterly destroyed. Chuckling in his throat, Naruto then watched as the Shade held its free hand forward, dark-energy gathering into its fist.

"**SUBMIT!"** The Shade roared slamming its fist into the Crusader, sending it flying back into and then threw a tree. Holding his hands to his sides, Naruto twirled his two Keyblades before crouching back and launching forward with The Shade's help. Swinging both of his Keyblades Naruto caught the Crusader's chest in an X before slashing, thus sending the Crusader flying back before The Shade brought both arms to Naruto's shoulders.

"**Witness, true power!"** It uttered darkly before dark energy formed over both it and Naruto, the two vanishing before five of them appeared around the Crusader. **"This is your end!"** The Shade called before each of the Narutos' and Shades' crouched back, each Naruto crossing its keyblades as they did, before suddenly lunging forward. As the first of the five came at the Crusader, the Naruto with it slashed into an X with both Keyblades before this was repeated with each Naruto and Shade. Then the final one stopped before slashing the Crusader and the Shade lashed out, grabbing it by its shoulders and lifted it into the air.

"The is the end!" Naruto then called out before stabbing his Soul-Blade forward, piercing the chest of the Crusader and causing it to spasm, then turned bright red, before suddenly dissolving into the Keyblade's form. Landing on the ground a second later Naruto crouched while The Shade formed behind him, eyes narrowing as The Heretic landed before him, and then dissipated her spear. Standing up with a light chuckle, Naruto placed his Keyblade's onto his back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"So, how was that?" Naruto questioned and the Heretic stayed a distance from Naruto and The Shade for obvious reasons.

"Fine… if you like watching a merciless slaughter." She replied curtly and Naruto rolled his eyes before snapping his fingers, The Shade nodding as it vanished and formed back into his body seconds later.

"Now then why did you seek me out?" Naruto asked the Heretic and she reached behind herself, producing the skull mask he'd found earlier.

"I was… looking for this." She admitted quietly while placing a hand onto the skull.

"Why?" Naruto questioned and the Heretic bowed her head.

"It belonged to someone important to me when I was still whole." She admitted softly before placing it back behind her back. Blinking at the admission, Naruto's eyes returned to their original azure blue before looking to her apologetically.

"Oh… uh, Sorry." Naruto offered while rubbing the back of his neck and the Heretic shook her head.

"No need… it was another life after all." She stated and Naruto frowned before nodding his head in agreement.

"Do you… have a name?" Naruto asked and the Heretic nodded her head.

"Unlike most other Soulless, I remember my life before… this…" She said softly while looking at her hands and then clenched her fists. "I remember that I was called Raven by my best… and only friends." She then said and Naruto blinked while looking at her wing, and then wondered why that name rang a bell in his mind. "Yes, the irony isn't lost on me either." She then stated while crossing her arms and Naruto scratched the edge of his nose.

"Right… so do I call you Raven or…?" Naruto asked and then left off and the Heretic shook her head.

"In this form, I'd prefer it if you'd call me Angela." She stated and Naruto nodded his head slowly, seeing as that name was as good as Raven considering her wing.

"Okay. And I'm Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto offered with a slight bow and Angela merely nodded her head. Standing up straight afterwards Naruto then looked around and frowned towards the Soulless. "So, what happened to this world?" Naruto questioned and the Soulless looked around as well before sighing.

"This world was torn apart by the ambitions of two factions. One, The Order, sought to summon their God and destroy the "Heretics" in this town, they seem to have some small level of control over the Heartless. The other group, known simply as The Cult, are the ones that the Order Wanted to destroy. The Cult seek to destroy the Order in the same way, and have control over the Soulless, sans me of course." Angela explained and Naruto frowned, though admitted that that explained a hell of a lot…

"Then what about that girl, Dark-Alessa, how does she fit into this?" Naruto questioned and the Soulless twitched, and then bowed her head.

"She's a poor lost soul with a horrible burden… tormented and assaulted by The Cult and their children all her life, abandoned by her father and then burned alive by her own mother in order to summon the god of The Order… now she's been split into pieces, Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul. Her Mind and Heart work to destroy both The Order and The Cult by using this place. Her soul, was taken outside of this horrid place so that The Order may never complete her to finish summoning their god… and her body is nothing but an unmoving husk, left alive, without a mind, a soul, or a heart…" Angela explained softly and saw the pale, horrified look on Naruto's face.

"Kami Sama… and I thought I had it bad back in Konoha…" Naruto mumbled with wide eyes and Angela remained silent. "Why would anyone torment her? I mean, why did The Cult feel the need to do that? She was just a little girl right?" Naruto asked Angela and the Soulless hovered into the air, legs crossed beneath her and arms placed onto them lightly in an oh so familiar position…

"She was born a Shadowed Princess. Thus Darkness was destined for her, her powers as a Shadowed Princess manifested early. This manifestation was in the form of powerful psychokinetic powers. She could do amazing things with only her mind; the people of this town found out and The Cult branded her a witch. The Order thought of her as a Saint. And in the end, her mother decided to use her to summon The God of The Order. She burnt Alessa alive, and she was impregnated with The Orders God. In order to save people from suffering, Alessa tore her being apart, scattering it and pulled this world further into Darkness… so that no one else need suffer because of her." Angela explained while sounding as if she wanted to cry, and Naruto wished he could get his hands on the ones that had made her life a living hell…

"Alessa's mind still wanders Silent Hill, it brings people with mental trauma here and tries to help them work through it. Dark-Alessa on the flip side is her Heart; consumed by Darkness she merely wishes the death of those that would wish Alessa harm. Her soul, it exists somewhere in the world outside, free of the pain and horror the other two suffer with daily. Her mind has the power to punish the citizens of this town, having turned them into misshapen monsters, while her Heart commands them. The two work together to seek the end of both The Order and The Cult, and nothing will stop them from having their satisfaction." Angela finished and Naruto closed his eyes with a frown across his face while tapping one finger into his bicep.

"So… the worst of those who live in Darkness… and the worst of those who live in Light… all on the same world. This has got to be the nastiest world out there." Naruto noted and Angela nodded her head before sighing and looked to the sky.

"Makes you wish for a simple world with simple villains… huh?" Angela quipped and Naruto scoffed while rubbing the back of his neck.

"A place like that doesn't exist." He responded and Angela gave him a look.

"You'd be surprised." She stated and then placed her feet back onto the ground. "I'd best be off. The Soulless general for this world was destroyed, each world with Soulless has one so I'd look for them if I were you." Angela then stated before looking around and sighed. "Oh yeah, and try not to die… these worlds need someone to save them." Angela then said and Naruto smirked while giving her a thumb's up. Sighing, the Soulless then wrapped her wing around herself, a black Raven forming where she had been before jetting off into the sky…

--

TBC…

--

AN: The Silent Hill of this story is a combination of the Movie and Silent-Hill origins with parts of the other games placed in to keep it interesting. Did this mostly for time's sake since I can't put a whole portion of Silent-Hill into this story without making it ridiculously long. Also, can anyone figure out where "Angela" was from before becoming a Soulless?

Here's a list of Naruto's Keyblades thus far…

Dark-Heart: A Keyblade with the corrupting Powers of Darkness capable of creating Heartless from anyone cut by its blade.

Soul-Blade: An inherently evil Keyblade with the power to devour souls.

Gears of Madness: An old Keyblade that once belonged to the Apprentice of Master Xehanort.

Vorpal-Key: A Keyblade forged from a shard of the Vorpal-sword, capable of cutting through anything, even a foot of solid steel.


	26. Reunions

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 25**_: _**Reunions**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Silent-Hill…)

Sasuke panted while running from Pyramid-Head, the beast still relentless pursuing him. The thunk thunk scrape it made as it continued to trail behind him almost seemed to go in time with the ever-quickening beat of his heart. Looking over his shoulder, Sasuke's eyes snapped open seeing that PH was growing closer and closer with each passing second. In his mind, Sasuke had to wonder how something so big with a weapon so massive could be so FAST! Granted that he wasn't able to use his Chakra anymore for some reason, apparently due to his new alliance with light, but he still should have been faster than it!

Tripping Sasuke cursed his luck and tried to drag himself away, turning he saw PH lift it's Great-Knife with both hands and cursed. Rolling out of the way as it swung its weapon down, Sasuke quickly got back to his feet and tried to run, only for PH to lash out and grab one of his legs. Pulling Sasuke back as he clawed at the ground, trying to find some kind of hand hold, PH then threw the teen to the side while lifting his Great-Knife once more. Turning to see the creature, Sasuke quickly rolled out of the way as PH swung its Great-Knife at him once more.

Panting Sasuke flipped to his feet and then rolled backwards as PH swung a horizontal slash at him. Kicking PH in the knee he watched it buckle slightly before falling to one knee. However, it then grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up while standing to its full height, pulling Sasuke off the ground his legs kicking. Grasping PH's wrist as it held him Sasuke's eyes widened seeing a slot on it's Helm open and a strange, almost tongue like black thing slithered out.

The tongue then tried to stab him it seemed and Sauske moved his head enough to evade it. The black haired teen then kicked PH in the ribs before kicking it once more, PH grunting lowly as he did so, kicking his leg up as high as it could go. Sasuke managed to barely nail the edge of its massive helmet, thus knocking it off balance. Releasing Sasuke as it backed up, PH then righted himself while Sasuke turned tale and started running for his life. Seeing this, PH made his way after Sasuke; a strange pained moaning groan escaping from the confines of his massive helmet.

Sasuke panted once more, turning down into an alley and then slid to a stop upon seeing a dead end. "Shit." He mumbled before turning around and backed up as he saw PH approach him. PH then tried to use its Great-Knife, only the walls were too narrow for it to swing the weapon. Thanking whatever Kami was watching for small miracles, Sasuke looked around before jumping onto the side of the wall. Kicking off into a flip to the other side Sasuke then flipped over the main wall and landed behind it. Shaking his head, Sasuke looked around before rushing off, then slid to a stop and felt his eyes widen upon seeing PH waiting for him…

"How the hell do you do that?" Sasuke muttered before cursing as PH swung at him with its Great-Knife. Rolling backwards to evade, Sasuke landed in a crouch while PH suddenly struggled with its massive helmet, tugging on it and seemingly trying to get it out of the way. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sasuke ran from PH once more, squinting his eyes when he saw a large cross shaped symbol on top of a church in the distance. However, upon hearing the familiar thunk thunk scrape from PH, Sasuke redoubled his efforts and ran even faster, trying desperately to reach the building.

Behind him, PH seemed to realize his intent and thus ducked his head down and charged forward with surprising speed. Hearing the sounds of PH coming closer Sasuke turned his head then rolled to the side. PH running right passed him before tripping forward and landing in a heap. Picking itself up, PH struggled with his helm once more before getting up as Sasuke ran passed him. Letting out a pained moan / groan, PH lumbered after Sasuke once more, unrelenting in its pursuit of the teen.

As Sasuke ran from the being, he wondered just what the hell he'd done to make it chase him like this? Sure, he betrayed his friends, village, killed the man he'd betrayed them for, among other things, but this thing didn't know any of that, did it? Shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts, Sasuke slid into a turn and ran up a flight of steps. Upon nearing the building from before, a door at the top to the familiar church creaking open as PH continued to lumber after Sasuke. Panting and then jumping into the building, Sasuke turned and watched the doors close, PH now trapped outside.

"I see the fiend still pursues you." Someone commented and Sasuke nearly jumped as he turned to the side, sword drawn only to sigh in relief.

The woman was somewhat plain, having dark graying hair and fair skin with blue eyes, she was dressed in a conserved blue dress with a white undershirt or blouse, a black tie around her neck with a pin in the center of it, and a black belt around her waist with black heeled shoes.

"Christabella… you scared me for a second." Sasuke said while taking several calming breaths as he tried to steady the rapid beating of his heart.

"How did your search fair this time? Did you finally locate the Demon?" Christabella questioned, ignoring the boy's words and Sasuke grunted while dismissing his sword in a flash of light.

"No… I didn't find her, only someone from my world." Sasuke admits while getting up to his feet, looking around silently and noted that the people that had been here before seemed to be gone now. "What happened to everyone else?" Sasuke questioned and Christabella was silent for a moment while walking down the isle towards a large circular depression.

"They have transcended their flesh and become one with the holy light." Christabella responded vaguely and Sasuke pretty much translated that as they had all become Soulless… "Now then, this person from your world. Do you believe he would help us eliminate the Demon that plagues us?" Christabella questioned and Sasuke rolled his eyes before walking down the isle as well.

"Doubtful, he's working with The Darkness from what I can tell." Sasuke stated and Christabella frowned deeply while turning around and then snapped her fingers, several Soulless Prism's appearing around her.

"These angels will accompany you next time. Should you encounter this heretic who would dare to ally himself to the Darkness… you know what to do." Christabella ordered and Sasuke smirked slightly while the Prism's floated over to his sides, the dark haired youth nodding his head as his sword appeared in his hand.

"Yeah, I know what to do with the dobe." Sasuke replied while leaning his sword into his shoulder…

--

(World that never was…)

Xehanort walked into the Castle that never was and looked around, memories of his time as "Xemnas" coming to him. "I lost sight of my true ideals… twice now." He noted with a shake of his head as he wondered further into the castle soon stopping as he came to the room he'd been looking for. Smirking, Xehanort turned and saw a Dusk, laying back and seemingly relaxing. Rolling his eyes, Xehanort walked over to it, the Dusk turning its head to him at his approach. Upon seeing him, the Dusk quickly got to its feet and walked around him seemingly confused.

"Hello Braig, you're looking shorter than normal." Xehanort quipped and the Dusk merely shrugged its shoulders. "However, I believe I have the remedy to that…" Xehanort then said while holding out the Arrow-Guns that had belonged to Xigbar. "So… will you fight with me once more?" Xehanort questioned and the Dusk took a mock thoughtful look before nodding its head. Smirking, Xehanort tossed the weapons over to the dusk, the creature reaching its hands up to catch them…

Instantly a wavering energy formed over the Dusk, the Arrow-Guns suddenly circling around its form as darkness spiraled over its body. Soon the waving energy and spiral of Darkness extended from its form and left all bathed in shadow before it slowly dissipated from view… Smirking slightly and chuckling under his breath, Xehanort watched as the familiar form of Xigbar was soon revealed. Opening his sole remaining eye, Xigbar grinned upon seeing Xehanort standing before him and leaned his Arrow-Guns into his shoulders.

"Long time no see Master, how you doing?" The laid-back man questioned and Xehanort reached his hands up.

"Better now that my memories have returned…" Xehanort mused while pushing his hood back. Shadows forming over his body as he did, revealing the youthful face of Xehanort once more, Xigbar chuckling upon seeing him.

"Yeah, I can imagine amnesia would suck." Xigbar noted and Xehanort smirked before waving for the man to follow him. "So what's been happening since that kid Sora took me out?" Xigbar questioned while dismissing his Arrow-Guns and Xehanort took a thoughtful expression for a moment.

"Xine is free…" He stated and Xigbar blinked before chuckling to himself.

"Oh yeah, ol' one eye himself." He noted since Xine had been missing his eye much longer than he had…

"Indeed. Also, I have a new apprentice." Xehanort offered casually and Xigbar rubbed his chin for a moment before looking at Xehanort strangely.

"Really? Well, looks like things are really going to get interesting for us then…" Xigbar noted to himself before crossing his arms behind his head. "So where too now?" He questioned and Xehanort contemplated that silently for a moment.

"The Dark Worlds of course. The worlds of light are no longer of any use to me…" Xehanort replied and Xigbar shrugged his shoulders for a moment while they walked out of the castle that never was. Exiting it, Xehanort pulled his hood up once more, taking the form of the old man yet again while Xigbar raised a brow.

"Why do you keep taking that form?" He questioned with a raised brow and Xehanort chuckled in his throat for a moment.

"Because, people know my other face too well… this one is almost unknown to Sora and his little friends." Xehanort replied and Xigbar nodded his head with a smirk as a Dark-Corridor opened before them, both walking into its depths once it had…

--

(Silent-Hill…)

Naruto walked further into Silent-Hill with a frown. He'd attempted to find some kind of trail so he could locate Dark-Alessa. However, it almost seemed like she was a ghost since there was not even the slimmest of traces of her. _'Like she was a ghost…'_ Naruto mused to himself as he walked back into town, and then looked down, blinking when he saw a piece of yellowed paper lying on the ground at his feet. Kneeling down the blond haired youth picked the paper up and turned it around.

On it was a picture in crayon of a hospital, the word itself slightly misspelled with black curving over it, a picture of what looked eerily similar to Pyramid Head on the roof of the hospital with flames rising up around it and into the sky where a bright red moon hovered above it all. "So… to the hospital I go then." Naruto mused to himself while standing up and then folded the picture up before jumping onto a fire escape and began climbing it up to a roof. Coming on top of the roof, Naruto walked over to its edge and looked out over the city.

Spotting what looked like a hospital in the distance, Naruto noted the way to it before turning and sliding back down to the ground. Smirking as he placed his hands in his pockets, Naruto wondered out of the alley and off towards the building. Looking around as he wandered closer to the building, Naruto wondered what "Alessa" had in store for him there. Shaking his head, Naruto ran towards the hospital silently, more than jus a little creeped out by the never-ending silence that surrounded him. Approaching the Hospital, Naruto quickly slid to a stop before it and quickly opened the door before walking inside.

Feeling his boots crunch some old glass on the floor Naruto walked forward, slowly. Reaching a receptions office, Naruto was not surprised to see that it was vacated, however took note of a key and raised a brow upon seeing it. Turning it over in his hand, Naruto flipped the key into the air before catching it and walking off. Stuffing the key into his pocket, Naruto walked deeper into the hospital, stopping only to see a message board beside him. Finding only a construction notice about the third floor being closed off and a few other old notes, Naruto passed it by and headed towards the back.

Keeping his eyes open as he walked through a door, Naruto blinked when he saw a familiar little girl. "Hey!" Naruto called while quickly running after her, then slid to a stop seeing she was gone. "Dammit…" He mumbled before looking around for her, seeing an elevator, Naruto hit the call button on it. Watching the doors open, Naruto walked inside and then hit a button for the second floor. Riding it up, Naruto walked tapped one of his feet lightly before opening an eye as the elevator stopped. Walking out of the elevator and onto the second floor, Naruto looked around for anything.

"Where is she?" Naruto wondered to himself before walking over to and then threw a door. Seeing what looked like a nurse ahead of him, Naruto was about to speak however stopped when he noticed how she twitched and jerked all over. Staying silent, Naruto walked around the nurse and tried not to retch seeing it's face was mostly blank with a strange twisted look to the skin, it was extremely pale, wore a white nurses hat and uniform complete with heeled shoes and gloves with a scalpel in one hand. Choosing not to take his chances by talking to her, Naruto stayed close to the wall and kept quiet as he came to a doorway. Opening it quietly, Naruto found himself in a hallway.

Looking around, Naruto saw two more of the nurses; only these were walking down the halls. Twitching, Naruto walked passed them, soon coming to another doorway that he attempted opened. Turning the knob as quietly as possible, Naruto inwardly groaned when he heard the click of a lock. _'Going to need a key for that…'_ He noted to himself before placing his back against the wall and making his way along it. Checking more doors while keeping as quiet as possible as the Nurses lumbered up and down the halls of the strange place.

Soon finding an open door, the blond mentally sighed in relief while opening it and slipping inside. Looking around for any nurses in the room, Naruto breathed a short sigh of relief upon seeing none around him. "Well… at least I can talk again." Naruto mumbled to himself before shrugging and walked around the room. The room was small, having a gurney, a medicinal cabinet, a large mirror to one side, a sink to the opposite side of the room, and of course stuff was turned over with an IV pole laying on the ground, over turned table, broken glass and the usual bric-a-brac he'd found all over Silent hill thus far.

Looking around, Naruto walked over to the sink and frowned upon seeing something stuffed into its drain. Reaching down and slowly pulling it out, Naruto unfolded a piece of paper and found a key inside. Pocketing the key, Naruto looked at the paper and raised a brow at a short note. "Thunk, thunk, scrape, scrape, now he's here there's no escape…" He read aloud before folding the paper neatly and stuffing it into his pocket. "Okay… that wasn't ominous in the least." Naruto muttered to himself sarcastically while walking back to the door and exiting it, then slinked his way passed the Nurses to one of the locked doors.

'_This is a Stairwell, I should be able to get to the roof if the key is for it._' Naruto thought before slowly using the key to open the door, the Nurses turning towards him at the sound. Mentally cursing, Naruto remained still and silent, the nurses twitching / jerking for a moment before returning to their pacing of the floor. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Naruto slowly turned the doorknob and palmed it open. Walking passed it Naruto then closed the door behind him. Breathing a sigh of relief, Naruto made his way up a flight of stairs, passed the third floor and to the roof instead.

'_Well, if Pyramid-Head is up here at least I know there was a reason for it on the picture…'_ Naruto thought to himself before opening the door, finding himself on the roof he looked around before scratching the back of his neck. "Wow, nothing's here…" He mumbled to himself before walking across the roof, looking for anything that he could use or would tell him where to go next. Frowning and placing his hands onto his hips, Naruto then noticed an old crate and shrugged.

"I guess it's worth a shot." He mused to himself while walking over to the crate and then knelt down and opened it up. Finding a key inside, Naruto then pulled out a note and read it's contents to himself…

--

(Xehanort Report 1…)

It has been a long time since leaving my hometown, but until now I have traveled to many worlds and obtained a lot of knowledge. I will record part of my progress here.

If I recall, my destiny changed when I arrived at a certain location, and learned of the terms called "master" and "brother". That was when I gained a new hometown.

And then there was the Keyblade. What was its original purpose and who had created it? During my training as a Keyblade wielder, I was told that it was a guardian of the light, which watches over the world from the shadows. But is that really all it is? Although anything not related to my mission was forbidden, out of personal inquiry, I have sometimes traveled the world to gain new knowledge.

--

Blinking upon reading the note, Naruto turned it over before scratching his head at its contents. "Why does this sound familiar?" He wondered to himself before shrugging and placing the note into his pocket with the other's he'd found thus far. Standing up once he had, Naruto looked at the key in his hand and saw a tag for a hotel hanging off of it. "Well at least I know where to go…" He mused to himself before flipping the key into the air, catching it in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket. Seconds later however, Naruto noticed a shadow over him and mentally grimaced.

Turning, the boy saw the "Red Pyramid Thing" seen by Larxene and Alice for all of a second before it lashed out with its sword, slamming the blunted edge of the weapon into him and knocking him from the roof. Groaning as he hit the ground, Naruto looked up towards the roof and saw Red Pyramid lumber off. Pushing himself up Naruto placed a hand to his head before looking around. Seeing that he was on the other side of the hospital now, and an Open gate was nearby, Naruto blinked before rubbing his head.

"Did it just… help me?" Naruto wondered to himself before shaking his head and made his way over to the gate. Narrowing his eyes and looking around for anyone, Naruto then nodded his head as he walked off towards the nearest Hotel…

--

(Twilight Town…)

Xine yawned while walking out of a Dark-Corridor and onto the peaceful world of Twilight Town. "Huh… man, my memories are fuzzy, have I been here before?" Xine wondered to himself while scratching his head uncertainly, then shrugged his shoulders and made his way further into the city. Wandering the streets and alleys of Twilight Town did seem to remind Xine of something, however, he groaned as the random flashes only served to give him a headache instead.

"Man seriously, how long have I been gone?" Xine wondered with his arms outstretched before hearing a very familiar sound from behind him. Turning his head, Xine saw Sora and his group and blinked beneath his hood upon seeing the brown haired boy, a clear memory passing before his eyes. "Ventus?" He asked upon seeing Sora and the brown haired boy raised a brow in confusion while Riku looked at the black-cloaked man before them in surprise.

"My name is Sora." Sora stated and Xine reached a hand up and rubbed his head through his hood.

"Really? Man, did Ventus have a brother or something, you look almost exactly like him… save the hair… and clothes." Xine stated then mused to himself with a thoughtful expression beneath his hood.

"Oh… uh, your not with Organization XIII, are you." Sora mused aloud and slowly lowered his weapon, Xine looking at the youth in confusion.

"Who now?" He asked seriously and Sora sighed while lowering his weapon.

"Sorry, it's just that everyone who wears that cloak is normally with Organization XIII." Sora offered with a grin while rubbing the back of his neck and Xine blinked behind the shadows of his hood.

"Okay. That's new. Last time I checked only Keyblade Wielders and Dark Users wore these so we could travel through Dark-Corridors without loosing our Hearts." Xine said mostly to himself and Sora blinked before looking over to Riku.

"Is THAT why you wore one Riku?" Sora asked and Riku nodded his head.

"Of course, why do you think I dressed like the Organization?" Riku retorted and Sora chuckled nervously while looking away from his companion. Seeing this, Xine yawned once more while reaching into his hood and started rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well you know this must be an absolutely fascinating little discussion guys, but I seriously need to go. I've been locked up by an annoying Dark Witch for the passed few… what looks like years… and I'd really like to reacquaint myself with the worlds." Xine stated before turning his head and mentally grimaced seeing a familiar Mouse heading towards them. "Oh shit it's the mouse." He muttered while taking a step back, forming into what could appear like a loose stance.

"Sora. Donald. Goofy. I'm back from Yen…" Mickey started to say to the others as he approached before looking towards Xine and quickly took a step back. "Xine?" He questioned and Sora looked to the king in confusion.

"You know him King Mickey?" Sora questioned and Mickey nodded his head with a thin frown on his face.

"Xine is from Radiant Garden, he was a Royal Guardsmen there until he went in search of Power through the Darkness. I met him when he was trying to learn of the full potential of Darkness. Because of this he was called Xine, The Seeker of Darkness." King Mickey explained and Sora quickly held his keyblade in a defensive stance, since the only other "Seeker of Darkness" he knew of had been "Ansem" or rather "Xehanort's Heartless" after all.

"Aw man… is everyone going to hold that name against me? It's not even like I'm still Seeking Darkness…" Xine wondered then mused to himself while Riku took a stance, thus catching his attention. "You have the same battle stance a Vanitas…" He noted while his eye drifted over to Kairi and he found it narrowing slightly. "And you have the same one as Eraqus Apprentice, Aqua." Xine noted before his eyes drifted towards King-Mickey. "You've improved your stance and your obviously more confident than I remember…" He said to himself while crossing his arms over his chest and nodding as he found his eyes landing on Sora.

"Oh jeez… I'm sorry but I've got to ask kid, who taught you that stance?" Xine questioned with a shake of his head and Sora blinked for a moment.

"No one. I made my style myself." Sora replied and Xine held back laughter, snorting instead as he chuckled and moved his arms to his sides.

"A self taught Key-Bearer? Will wonders never cease?" Xine wondered aloud before chuckling once more as he held his hands to the sides. "Okay, now then King Mickey, would you please let me go? I'm trying to get myself reacquainted with how things work in the worlds and you're kind of in my way." Xine pleaded, though he obviously didn't care either way. Hey, while he might complain about it, he did have a slight itch to show the brown haired boy his "Style" was little more than a joke…

"And allow you to go meddling in the other worlds affairs again." King Mickey retorted and Xine grunted under his breath. That only happened once, and it wasn't HIS fault those black things showed up and started destroying everything, seriously, it was that Maleficent Chick not him… well unless he meant that one world where this one chick was being forced to marry some dude and he kicked the crap out of him and helped her go free… then there was that one world with the talking fox man called "Robin Hood" where he helped kick the crap out of an annoying Lion and his pet snake.

"First of all mouse, I wasn't the one responsible for all those little black things… suddenly showing up on that one world. So don't go around blaming me for it. And if you mean the OTHER worlds I meddled with… the dicks had it coming. Secondly, either your going to get out of my way willingly, or I'll just have to make you do it." Xine then stated in a monotone, a deep scowl on his face beneath his hood and Mickey merely dug his feet into the ground. "Why does everyone always want to do things the hard way?" Xine wondered to himself before he threw one hand to his side, instantly forming his Soul-Eater before grinning at Sora and the others from beneath his hood.

"Now lets see if you So-Called Key-Bearers of light can compare to that old man or his little apprentice, Ventus…" Xine mused while taking a stance with the blade, Dark Energy wafting off of his body as he did…

--

(Silent-Hill…)

Axel sighed as he looked around a deserted room, deserted and trashed he mentally added while yawning quietly. The Hotel was more or less empty, an odd few monsters the only real problem but they were no match for him and the other's when working together. "So, find anything yet Travis?" Axel suddenly questioned as he leaned back into a wall, arms crossed over his chest. Upon hearing the red heads voice, Travis blinked for a moment and then shook his head.

"Not really, I can't find anything of real use. Hell, I can't even find any notes or things of little use. Only thing I DID find was what looks like tracks." Travis replied and Axel raised a brow. "Tracks that lead to a locked door." He then stated and Axel mentally groaned before pushing off the wall and looking over to the girls. Alice was flipping her knife into the air and catching it boredly while Larxene was starting to mutter as she walked out of a room. Out of all of them, Tira was the only one of them with an upbeat attitude, and that was only because she wasn't in her "Gloomy" persona for the moment.

Sighing, Axel rubbed his face before looking down and forming a fireball to see the floor better in the dim light. Walking around for a moment he grumbled when he didn't see anything more than he had before. "What is with this place and being completely insane?" Axel wondered to himself and Travis shrugged his shoulders, not really knowing what to tell the man.

"Excuse me, but was that there just a moment ago?" Alice suddenly questioned and the others blinked before looking to the Shadowed Princess as she pointed her Vorpal-Blade to a wall. Looking at the wall, Axel grimaced seeing another note was scrawled onto it and it had NOT been there a second ago.

"Help me…" Axel read aloud upon seeing the message in the wall, an arrow pointing to the side. "Oh shit… that can't be good." He muttered, also noticing that the note seemed to be written in blood.

"You have no idea…" Travis said with a scowl while Larxene shivered, honestly, she liked evil as much as the next person, but this was just psychotic! "C'mon lets find out where it leads." Travis grumbled while following the arrow, soon followed by Alice as she put her knife into her ribbon and took out her watch, shaking it in hand and then turning the top for a bit.

"Hey, you still have all your toys?" Larxene questioned incredulously and Alice blinked before frowning.

"Actually, I've only got my small ones, my Blunderbuss, Ice Staff, and Eye-Staff were destroyed by the Queen." Alice replied with a frown and Larxene scowled anyways.

"Not my point. What I mean is, why didn't you, oh I don't know, use any of them on that Red Pyramid thing?!" Larxene demanded of Alice and the girl blinked for a moment before blushing slightly.

"Well… I actually forgot about them." She admitted and Larxene slapped her face while Tira snickered into one hand with a grin, while Travis looked over to Axel with a raised brow.

"What toys is she talking about, and how would they help them around here?" Travis asked of the red haired man and Axel merely sighed before rubbing his face with a grimace.

"Just… leave it be." Axell suggested and Travis shrugged before stopping and looking forward. Following Travis's gaze, Axel took a step back upon seeing a Nurse monster, hanging from a hook with something sparkling in a large hole in her stomach…

"Well… that explains the note." Axel mused while Larxene shivered seeing the nurse, blood dripping down its legs to the floor. "So now what?" Axel questioned and Travis walked over to the nurse and put his hand into the hole in its stomach. "Nasty…" Axel grumbled while Travis pulled a key out of the Nurse and looked it over.

"C'mon, I think I know which door this is for." Travis stated while turning, and then noticed the green looks from Alice, Larxene, and Axel. "What? Oh that, trust me, I've put my hands in worse things than a corpse." Travis stated with a shiver and the three decided they didn't want to know before following after the man further into the old hotel. Walking around, Travis soon stopped at a door and tried the Key in it, nodding his head when it opened up.

"How'd you know the key was for this door?" Axel asked and Travis sighed before turning around to face the red head.

"This is a hotel, so most room keys would have a tag with the room number they were for. Every normal room has a number on, it but this one doesn't for some reason or another. Thus, since this key has no tag on it, it could only be for this door." Travis replied simply and Tira blinked with a frown over her face.

"But what if someone just ripped the tag off of it?" She asked and Travis blinked for a moment before grunting and scratching his chin.

"Then we would've just tried every door till we found the right one." He replied while opening the door and walking inside of it. The room was small, a couch to one side with tables and chairs knocked over, an elevator to one end and another message scrawled on the wall, this one having been carved into it by a blade. "Great, more Wall notes…" Trais muttered while Tira read the note and then tilted her head.

"Travel to hell, then rise to heaven, the path to your goal lies beyond both…" She read aloud and Axel looked to Larxene and saw her rubbing her temples.

"Who the fuck is leaving all these around here anyways?" Larxene demanded angrily and Travis frowned while thinking about the note.

"Down to hell… up to Heaven. It means to use the elevator. Head down to the basement, then up to the top floor." Travis mused while rubbing his chin for a moment and Tira frowned.

"You do realize this could just be some kind of Trap. Especially considering the fact that Nurse back there was gutted… right?" Tira reminded with a sly looking smirk and Travis gave her a look for a moment.

"It's the only way we have open to us." He reminds the girl before walking over and hitting the call button. As soon as he did, all of them heard heavy thuds and a long scraping sound coming from outside the door. "Oh no…" Travis whispered while Axel and Larxene quickly formed their weapons at their sides. Smirking, Tira twirled her ring-blade around her body and made her way over to Axel and Larxene, Travis and Alice hanging back as the sounds started to get progressively louder.

"I so don't like the sound of that." Axel mumbled under his breath while backing up, the thuds getting louder as did the screech. Then the door before them was cut into by what looked like a massive meat-cleaver, the cleaver then pulling back on the door to reveal a new disturbing creature.

This one was in a mostly human shape though what could bee seen of its face was completely blank save for the hole where its eye would be, it had metal plates on the left side of its face forming down over its left shoulder as well, it was muscular with deathly pale skin with black scars and stood to a height of at least eight feet tall, with partly stitched gloves worn over its hands, what resembled a bloodied butchers smock over its torso, and thick black boots covering its feet. In one hand the creature had a massive meat cleaver, the blade having turned red from years of being rusted and covered in blood… (SH-Origins: The Butcher…)

"What the hell! Another one?" Larxene demanded as the creature lumbered forward, dragging its massive cleaver behind it with one hand.

"Dammit, its that thing again!" Travis said while pulling his gauntlets on and removing an old firemen's Ax from his duffle bag. Hearing a ping as the elevator made it to their floor, he quickly turned and opened the door.

"Alright freak, lets play!" Axel offered while throwing his Chakrams at the Butcher, knocking him back a few paces before he shook it off. Meanwhile, Travis pulled a gate to the Elevator opened and calmed himself down for a moment.

"Mister Axel, perhaps we should leave." Alice suddenly offered the red head and he rolled his eyes before he and Larxene threw their weapons into the Butcher, knocking him back, yet still he shook that off as well.

"What is with this thing, no matter what we do it won't stay down!" Axel grumbled while forming a fireball and throwing it into the Butcher's face. The fireball impacted and only did minimal damage, The Butcher lumbering forward once more soon after. Throwing her ring-blade, Tira grinned as it cut into The Butcher, and then gaped as it used one hand to rip her weapon out of its torso and throw it at them. Ducking the group narrowly evaded the weapon in the confined quarters while The Butcher continued to lumber towards them.

"This isn't getting us anywhere." Larxene complained while focusing a burst of Lightning and throwing it into The Butcher's chest, pushing him back a ways yet still he shook it off and lumbered closer to them.

"Because no one else can face him… only I can fight my darkness." Travis said to himself quietly before he quickly pushed Alice into the elevator. Landing with a grunt, Alice looked to Travis as he quickly grabbed Axel and Larxene from behind, and then threw them both back and into the elevator as well.

"M-mister Travis, what are you doing?" Alice demanded while Larxene tried to get off of her and the man was silent before he kicked Tira in the stomach, knocking her into it as well while she grabbed her Ring-blade on the way in. Moving quickly, Travis then pulled the gate to the elevator closed while Axel got up. Grasping the gate as Travis turned his back to him and faced The Butcher, Axel looked to the man incredulously.

"Travis, what the hell?!" Axel demanded and Travis was silent for a moment as The Butcher came closer to him.

"Go, find your friend." Travis ordered simply while the elevator doors suddenly closed, as he stared off against The Butcher.

"Travis you idiot!" Axel called while slamming his hands into the door as the elevator suddenly shifted into a decent. Meanwhile Travis stared down The Butcher as it lumbered closer to him, and then tightened his grip on his ax.

"C'mon, we still have a score to settle with one another… don't we." Travis mused quietly while taking a stance with his ax and The Butcher suddenly hefted its Cleaver up and swung down on him…

Elsewhere Axel grit his teeth as the elevator went down quickly, a familiar air raid siren echoing in the elevator shaft. "Oh shit, not that damn siren again!" Larxene complained while getting up, Tira leaning into the back wall as the elevator changed with them inside it. Soon all that was left of it was more of a cage than an elevator, fire and the strange "Otherworld" all around them outside of it.

"F-f-fire!" Alice said with wide eyes and hugged Larxene's knees while looking all around and the blond placed a hand on one wall as they fell further and further into the elevator shaft, soon stopping. The elevator door opened, and Axel took a step back upon seeing yet another creature, similar to PH and The Butcher…

This one was dressed and built identically to Pyramid-Head and The Butcher, being an eight foot tall, muscular, humanoid male with pale flesh with veins and black scars over his form, however, his face was completely bare, revealing a black face with sunken holes where its eyes would normally be, and an odd tattoo on one of its shoulders. While it was dressed in the same bloodied smock, heavy boots, and partly stitched together gloves of the other two. (SH-3: Valtiel…)

Turning its faceless head towards them, the new creature only spared them a passing glance before suddenly turning a valve. Steam jet up outside of the elevator and under it as well, soon pushing them upwards into the shaft once more. This time they could see everything on their way, up, Axel watching the rooms before widening his eyes as he saw the one where Travis had been… only there was no longer any sign of him or of The Butcher within the room. The Elevator then rose up above that room however, soon speeding greatly as the fire around them seemed to roar hotter and hotter.

"How much more of this can this thing take?!" Tira suddenly demanded before the thing crashed to a stop, all the light around them instantly going out.

"I-Is it over?" Alice wondered aloud while Axel groaned and rubbed his head, pulling on the gate inside of the elevator it moved and he pulled it to the side. Walking out into a dark room, Axel felt around before grunting when he noticed a squish form his hand on the wall. _'Guess that means the walls are like flesh in this place… eww… that's just too nasty for words.'_ Axel thought to himself before shaking his head and removing his hand from the wall with a shiver.

"No. We're still in that nightmare version of this world…" Axel responded while holding his hand into the elevator. Larxene then took the offered hand while also taking Tira's as well, and Tira literally picked up Alice with one arm.

"M-miss Tira I do not require you to carry me!" Alice exclaimed and Tira merely snickered while carrying the girl under one arm, being unusually strong given her frame was something she enjoyed greatly after all.

"Aw don't complain, I just don't want you wandering off or Master will be displeased with me." Tira commented and both Larxene and Axel had to wonder about the girl's reasoning before making their way further into the hotel. Holding out a hand, Axel then conjured one of his Chakram and made a ball of fire over it so they could see and actually wished he hadn't upon looking around. Now around them was a long hallway with broken or blocked doors that were made of heavy looking rusted iron, with almost flesh looking walls that were oozing blood, the floor was an odd metal grating that had rusted and was covered in blood, and several industrial fans were along the ceiling…

"Just when you thought this place couldn't look any more horrible." Larxene mumbled with a grimace and Axel nodded his head in agreement.

"At least there's no more fire…" Alice said while looking around and Larxene turned to give her an incredulous look while a highly amused and obviously snickering Tira carried her under her left arm. "Damn, just how strong are you?" Larxene demanded of the girl and Tira blinked for a moment before taking a thoughtful expression.

"Unusually strong." Tira offered vaguely with an amused twinkle in her eyes and Larxene huffed while turning back to Axel.

"Are all women in the Dark-Worlds like this?" Larxene wondered aloud and Axel shrugged his shoulders, hoping they weren't all insane or psychotic at the very least… he could live with them being overly violent, just not psychotically insane…

"Uh, Mister-Axel, what's that noise?" Alice suddenly asked and Axel blinked before stopping, Larxene stopping as well while Tira looked around with a frown. The sound was light, like footsteps, and as they heard them echo they grew closer and closer as well. "I do hope its not another monster…" Alice mumbled while Axel released Larxene's hand and formed his other Chakram while waiting for whatever it was to appear before them…

Seconds later a familiar figure in a black cloak walked out of the shadows, a pair of Keyblades on his back relieving Axel greatly. "Oh shit, thank Kingdom Hearts your okay." Axel commented while Alice grunted as Tira released her then launched at Naruto happily hugging him as he grimaced in slight pain.

"Master! I'm so glad to see you, I've had the hardest time finding you in this weird place." The girl proclaimed before releasing Naruto, the blond breathing in before giving her an annoyed look from behind his hood.

"Tira…" He said lowly and the girl blinked.

"Yes master?" She asked innocently and Naruto frowned.

"Never do that again…" He ordered while cracking his knuckles and Tira blinked before nodding her head.

"Yes Master." She replied while Naruto walked over to Axel and the others.

"So, anything interesting happen to you guys?" Naruto asked and Axel grimaced for a moment before nodding his head.

"Yeah, we've gone through hell… and a guy that was helping us seems to have vanished." Axel offered before dispelling one of his Chakrams and rubbed his head. "And right now I'd really like to take a break." Axel stated and Naruto nodded his head slowly before looking over to Alice.

"You okay Alice? Nothing broken I hope." Naruto questioned as the said girl brushed herself off and then blinked for a moment.

"Oh yes, fine mostly, though I do wish all the fire would go away." Alice offered with a smile, and then said with a shiver as Naruto slowly nodded his head. Growling, Larxene then grabbed Naruto's head under her arm and gave him an annoyed glare.

"Yeah, now would you PLEASE be so kind as to get us the fuck out of here?!" Larxene demanded and Naruto blinked while looking up at her.

"How? I was looking for a way out as well…" Naruto admitted and Larxene bit her lip and resisted the urge to slam him into the ground. Seeing this, Axel sighed while placing one hand on one of his hips and gave the blond haired woman a look.

"Chill Larxene, it's not like he anticipated finding us here." Axel reminded and Larxene released Naruto, and then crossed her arms over her chest with a grumble.

"Eh… right. Anyways, since this path is obviously a dead end, I might actually know the way out." Naruto offered and Larxene glared at the blond as he walked off, then turned down a hall…

"I HATE when he does this shit…" Larxene growled out while following him, Axel ushering Alice and Tira after the young blond as they wandered through the upper corridors of the hotel…

--

(Twilight Town…)

Xine panted while backing away from the light users, grumbling under his breath he pushed himself onto his feet. "Man, don't you guy's know that six on one isn't fair?" Xine questioned while backing away and Sora rolled his eyes in response.

"Since when do Dark users complain this much?" The youth retorted and Xine blinked before scratching his head for a moment.

"Eh… true." He admitted and then shook his head while turning to see he was slowly being surrounded. "You know, maybe I shouldn't hold back anymore…" Xine mused to himself, Riku blinking at his words.

"Hold back?" Riku questioned of the red-eyed man and Xine chuckled for a moment, black energy forming at his feet.

"Well duh, you didn't actually think I was THIS weak… did you?" Xine quipped with a chuckle as the black energy formed into Shadows that started wrapping all around his form. "After all, I am a Seeker of Darkness, I'm not going to go and make a fight easy for you idiotic Light Users…" Xine said lowly before throwing his left hand to the side, forming a second Soul-Eater as black energy shot up around him. Soon the shadows completely consumed his form, revealing a new figure in Xine's place.

The figure was dressed in a familiar type of biological armor, the first portion of it was black, with red over the forearms and hands and blue fingers, thicker blue armored portions were over his chest with a large black heart with a red border over top it and thick blue armor also over his knees, a large belt was worn around his waist with an odd white half skirt with blue tips, with two horizontal straps holding the flaps of the skirt together in the front, a pair of Spellbinders were now visible with one placed over each of his biceps, his feet were covered by a pair of dark blue biological boots with black soles and silver trim, and a purple rope was tied around his waist.

Last was a silver apparatus over Xine's lower jaw, covering it from view in jagged waves, a pair of blades curled up behind his ears before poking back from the silver apparatus, while a final blade curled up over top his head and ended at the top of his forehead. "Like it? We Seekers know of it as Dark-Armor." Xine quipped while moving his arms and stretching for a moment, Riku feeling his eyes widen as he DID recognize that armor, as did Sora.

"R-Riku, that's the exact same Armor you used to wear!" Sora said while King-Mickey crouched into a stance and Xine blinked before grimacing as a few memories hit him, memories from his time imprisoned…

--

_It was cold, he could feel nothing, and the entire world around him was held within glass. Slowly opening his eye, Xine looked out of his glass prison to the world outside. He saw a woman in black with green skin, someone who looked like a younger Riku at her side. "Come now, if you truly wish to find your friend, you'll need a weapon." Maleficent commented before waving towards the Soul-Eater in the ground. "Take his." She offered and Riku turned to look at her strangely._

"_His?" Riku questioned and Maleficent nodded her head._

"_One whose lust for power grew too strong, his very soul is now lost to it… so I believe "Soul-Eater" is an appropriate name for his weapon." She replied mysteriously, Xine's body quivering with rage from within his tomb. That hadn't been what happened, she placed him in this prison out of fear of his strength…_

"_If it'll eat my soul, why would I want it?" Riku questioned and the woman chuckled while placing a hand on the boy's head._

"_So naive. The sword didn't eat his soul, his own power did. He was a fool who only knew battle, who only knew how to fight." She replied with a wave of her staff towards where Xine was held, the man's form quivering even more greatly. Looking to the woman warily for a moment, Riku then nodded his head before walking over to the sword. Reaching out, he took hold of its hilt before pulling it out of the ground and swinging it a few times. Blinking, Riku then placed the blunted side of Soul-Eaters blade into his hand and looked at the weapon in intrigue._

"_It's light… really light considering its size." He mused and Maleficent nodded her head slowly while walking forward, covering Xine's name so her spell wouldn't be broken._

"_Yes, it was created by an alchemist who fused pure Darkness with the metal of the weapon. In turn, Soul-Eater, a Dark Sword unlike any other was born." Maleficent explained while Xine narrowed his eye on the woman, crimson eye bleeding into a burnt amber color as he did._

"_Right. And with this I'll be able to fight the Heartless?" Riku questioned and Maleficent nodded her head while walking over to the boy._

"_Of course, and then you'll be able to search for your dear missing friend… though I do warn you, he may not miss you." Maleficent replied and Riku gave her a fierce glare in response._

"_You don't know Sora like I do…" He mumbled while walking out of the room, Maleficent smirking as she turned to look directly at Xine._

"_Your power will be useful in turning the boy to my side." She mused before holding her staff out, pulling energy out of Xine, which formed into a dark sphere floating above her hand. "Yes, I believe I still have use for you, Seeker of Darkness." She mused to herself quietly before following after the silver haired youth at a sedate pace…_

--

Gritting his teeth Xine quickly shook his head of the images and scowled towards Sora and Riku deeply. "Well, there is a reason for that… but I don't think you need to know it." Xine grumbled before standing up straight and leaning Soul-Eater into his shoulder with an annoyed frown. "All you really need to know right know is why you shouldn't piss off a Seeker of Darkness!" Xine then roared as black glass formed over his face and he took a stance with his twin Soul-Eaters before slamming them together hilt to hilt and spinning the double-bladed weapon at his side.

King-Mickey was the first to attack, lunging at Xine from the side the man blocked with one end of his weapon before twisted into a kick to King-Mickey's face. Sora and Riku then lashed out from his sides and Xine ducked down while catching both of their keyblades with the handle of his weapon. Smirking, Xine then spun his weapon, catching both boys across the face with the attack. Kairi quickly cast a spell from behind, a bolt of lightning coming down towards Xine only for the Xine it hit to turn into a black puff of smoke.

Eyes wide, Kairi looked for Xine, the man suddenly appearing behind her and twirling his double bladed sword above his head before swinging it at her. Goofy quickly blocked the attack with his shield however, and Donald quickly sent a ball of ice slamming into Xine. However the Xine turned into a puff of black smoke once more as he reappeared behind Donald. Riku quickly held up a hand and fired his Dark-Aura into Xine, knocking the man to the side where he flipped back to his feet.

Flipping back to his own feet, Sora ran towards Xine before crouching and launching himself forward with a swing of his key. Seeing this, Xine quickly blocked the attack before kicking Sora in the stomach and swung upwards with his weapon, knocking Sora back while King-Mickey and Riku lunged at him. Growling lowly, Xine twisted and turned around the attacks from King-Mickey and Riku before flipping into the air and forming his own Dark-Aura over himself, and then sent bolts of Darkness slamming into King-Mickey and Riku.

Grunting as they hit, Riku and King-Mickey quickly got up as Xine landed on the ground, then split his double bladed sword. Twirling both weapons at his sides he leaned one over his shoulders before lunging forward, his other Soul-Eater dragging across the ground and sparking. Swinging his free Soul-Eater at Riku, the youth quickly took a step back before blocking the next swing with his Way-To-Dawn. Narrowing his eyes, Xine then used an over handed swing with his other Soul-Eater, Riku cursing and quickly rolling out of the way as he did.

Feeling a presence, Xine then ducked below a swing from King-Mickey and then jumped up, slamming his helmeted head into King-Mickey's chin. Falling back from the impact, King-Mickey rubbed his chin for a second before rolling back as Xine turned into a swing at him. Landing in a crouch, Mickey lashed out at Xine, using quick movements and his naturally small stature against the taller man. Blocking a slash, Xine then grunted as King-Mickey lashed out at him with a kick that connected with his side. Growling he then swung his weapons at the mouse, King-Mickey dancing around them before swinging at him once more.

Moving quickly, Xine blocked the Keyblade with one Soul-Eater before swinging at the mouse once more. King-Mickey merely flipped over the attempt and then flipped into a spin into Xine's solar plexus. Grunting and backing up, Xine placed a hand to his chest before growling low in his throat. "Why you little!" He grumbled before twirling his Soul-Eaters in his hands then slammed them together blade to blade. Instantly a massive version of the sword was formed and Xine leaned it against his shoulders for a moment. It was at least twice the length of the original Soul-Eater, and twice as thick as well, with two eyes at its hilt now pulsing slightly, a pair of sharp spikes forming out of the guard.

Blinking in confusion, King-Mickey didn't see the point too the change, lunging forward, sure the increase in size would mean an increase in weight, King-Mickey lashed out with a quick swing of his Keyblade. However, his theory was prove false as Xine effortlessly rolled backwards, still holding the massive Soul-Eater and then swung it with both arms, slamming it into Mickey and sending him flying. Leaning the weapon into his shoulders once more, Xine then lunged at Riku, the youth blinking in surprise before flipping back as Xine swung the weapon with unreal speed.

Chuckling to himself, Xine then swung upwards with the weapon, thus sending an arc of dark-Energy flying towards Riku. Seeing this, Riku quickly blocked with Way-to-Dawn, only to be sent flying back anyways. Chuckling in his throat as Riku slammed into the side of a building, Xine then turned towards Sora and took hold of his blades hilt with both hands. "Now I'll show you, true Darkness!" Xine called before rearing his blade back and then lunging at Sora in a sonic thrust. Thinking quickly, Sora blocked the oncoming blade before swinging his Keyblade up, knocking the large weapon back and leaving Xine open.

Twisting into a slash, Sora sent Xine flying back, the man flipping in midair to land on his feet before hitting the ground. Frowning slightly, Xine then pulled the large blade apart into two once more before holding his hands to his sides. Instantly the two Soul-Eaters formed into four knives between his fingers like Larxene. Crouching back for a moment, Xine then lunged at Sora, vanishing into a black void before lashing out at Sora, swinging his arms wildly.

Dodging around the attacks as fast as he could, Sora then ducked under an attack before twisting into a slash, knocking Xine off balance. Quickly taking a step back, Sora then threw his Keyblade in an air raid, slamming it into Xine where Riku and King-Mickey nodded to one another and jumped into action. Catching Xine at his back both slashed upwards, sending the man flying into the air. Grunting in pain, Xine quickly shook his head before forming his two Soul-Eaters once more, then pulled them together hilt to blade. Instantly he formed a long spear with a wing curving over his left hand as a guard, his other hand on the handle.

"Alright, now I'm really going to cut loose!" Xine exclaimed as he turned his Spear tip down towards the ground and slammed into it. Instantly spikes of Darkness started to come up out of the ground at the group. Sora and Riku easily evaded them before heading over to Xine, then two then swinging their keyblades into the man. Shaking his head, Xine then spun his spear over his head before lunging forward. Swinging the weapon like a staff, Xine, caught Riku in the back before lifting it up, sending Riku into the air. Twisting around Xine then slammed the staff into Riku, slamming the silver haired youth into the ground.

"Riku!" Sora cried before lunging at Xine and swinging his Keyblade, Xine quickly blocking the attack only for Mickey to kick him from the side, knocking him over to the side. Falling to one knee, Xine placed a hand to his head as black energy began to waft from his body, forming into wisps around him.

"Ugh… my strength returns…" He mumbled while his Spear began to glow black, suddenly shifting into a Scythe. Standing and spinning the scythe overhead, Xine then swung it down before lunging at King-Mickey and Sora. Swinging the weapon King-Mickey blocked while Sora tried to lash out at Xine, only for him to vanish. Looking around in confusion, Sora didn't see as Xine appeared behind them and swung his Scythe over them before dragging it towards himself, cutting into both Sora and King-Mickey as he did so.

Grunting in pain as the blade cut through them, Sora cast a quick Curaga spell before lunging at Xine once more. Seeing this, Xine grunted then blocked a swing from Sora while King-Mickey used a barrel roll over the boy to slash his weapon into Xine's face. Falling back, Xine placed a hand down and flipped back to his feet before snapping his finger, his Scythe vanishing as his twin Soul-Eaters appeared in his hands once more. "Prepare yourself…" Xine suddenly uttered as the glow around him shot outwards consuming the area in black energy as he then began to float into the air.

Instantly, a black shell of Darkness formed around Xine, before suddenly spinning black versions of the man shot out of it. Cursing, Sora and King-Mickey evaded the black versions of Xine, running as they started to slam into the ground where they had been. Once the attack was over and Xine reappeared he then crouched back before launching himself forward, swinging his swords, beams of energy flying from them and heading straight for Sora. Moving quickly, Riku blocked the attack, flying over Sora and landing with a grunt.

Growling, Sora slid to a halt and narrowed his eyes on Xine, as he came running towards him. "No more running away…" He muttered before closing his eyes and then opening them with a flash of light, his clothing now a combination of black and yellow with two keyblades in hand, one Oblivion, the other his Kingdom Key. Holding his Kingdom Key over his shoulders while Oblivion floated out of his left hand, Sora quickly lunged at Xine. Swinging Oblivion into the Seeker, Sora then turned, swinging his Kingdom-Key upwards before bringing both down on the man. Not finished, Sora twisted around, knocking both blades into Xine before lifting them up, sending Sora flying into the air as he did.

Twirling his two keyblades in his hands, Sora then quickly launched into the air, swinging his keyblades rapidly into Xine before bringing them down on him. "T-Two… Keyblades… Is… is that why?" Xine questioned of himself before slamming into the ground with a grunt, darkness wafting from his body to reveal his black-cloaked form. Groaning in pain, Xine rolled onto his side and looked up as Sora landed before him, lightning crackling over his hands.

"So… your stronger than you look." Xine mused to himself before shaking his head and stood up, a hand to his chest. "It doesn't matter… your just one Key-Bearer… ugh, and you're not the one that I truly want to fight…" Xine grunted out as a Dark-Corridor opened up beneath him slowly pulling him into the shadows. "Until next time… Kid." Xine then said with a mock salute towards Sora as he faded into the shadows, vanishing without leaving a trace of his presence…

--

(??)

In a sea of Darkness, a clawed hand rose up and out of its endless obsidian depths. The hand had blood red clawed fingers, but the hand wrist and forearm were onyx black, soon a familiar figure pulled itself fully out of the dark ocean. Looking up, a helmeted head looked around before groaning as he pulled his other arm, and a Keyblade from the depths of Darkness. **"Where am I?"** The familiar deep demonic voice questioned before grunting as he placed a hand to his throbbing head. Looking around, Kyuubi found himself on a massive mountain, and upon looking down he saw a small city.

"**Well, I suppose I could torment a few Ningens' Souls while I try to figure out where I am… then hunt down that blasted Gaki for sending me into the depths of Darkness!"** Kyuubi said to himself with a low growl only to blink as he felt a dark presence, far greater, and more evil than even him…

"_**You're in my world, Worm."**_ An ominous voice echoed out and Kyuubi's eyes flared in rage while looking up. However, upon seeing who said the words he felt only unbridled fear and felt his body shake. Atop the very peak of the mountain, a form stirred to life, soon it twitched and then a massive wing was unfurled. Another wing soon followed it as a large beast stood with its arms folded over its chest, its back to the full moon behind it and swirling dark clouds all around.

The being was enormous, standing within the mouth of a volcano, having obsidian black skin and bright yellow eyes, his body was muscular and masculine, with two curved horns atop his head, his mouth was twisted into a wicked grin while his pointed ears framed his face, reaching a clawed hand down the being scooped up a terrified Kyuubi while his enormous wings stretched outward, lightning flashing and the spirits of the dead rising up around the demonic entity.

"**Y-you… L-lord Ch-Chernabog…"** Kyuubi whispered in fear as Chernabog grinned sinisterly while looking down at the tiny creature held in his hand, sharp fangs glinting in the pale light of the full moon. Slowly kneeling down, Kyuubi shivered as he could feel the malicious grin cross over Chernabog's face. _**'How many lesser demons have died upon seeing that cursed grin?'**_ Kyuubi wondered to himself, well aware of the vicious, cruel, and utterly sadistic habits of the Dark Lord, Chernabog…

"_**I have called you to my world worm… I have need of your power."**_ Chernabog's "Voice" echoed, though truly, Chernabog did not speak in the normal sense that Demons or Humans did… After all, it was beneath something like him.

"**You… n-need my power?"** Kyuubi questioned incredulously and saw a scowl start to cross over Chernabog's face at his words. **"Er! I mean, of course, you only want my help! You don't NEED anything!"** Kyuubi quickly said to placate the "Black God" that was known to all the worlds simply as Chernabog… Grin returning, Chernabog raised Kyuubi up, then narrowed his eyes on the tiny fiend in his clutches.

"_**Yes."**_ Chernabog's otherworldly voice hissed into Kyuubi's mind as he gazed into the eyes of the tiny creature within his fist. _**"I have use for one such as you, one who can travel into the realm of light."**_ Chernabog's voice echoed out as he brought his wings around himself and Kyuubi, the Demonic Seeker mentally gulping.

"**What would you have me do?"** Kyuubi questioned and Chernabog held out his other hand, a shadow descending down across the horizon and over the village below. The sleepy little village suddenly shifted, buildings arching and stretching under Chernabog's dark powers, as something started to form from them. Bats flew from the buildings as wicked specters began to rise out of them, answering their Black-God's call… _**'I have a really bad feeling about this…'**_ Kyuubi inwardly mused as the spirits and demons rose up and started to fly around Chernabog.

Turning to another portion of the village, Chernabog pointed two fingers down, calling even more spirits to him as Kyuubi watched on in fear of the Black-God's power. Riding the winds around the mountain Chernabog had made his home, the spirits then swirled around their master as Chernabog grinned evilly once more. Raising his single free hand, Chernabog then forced the countless souls and spirits to fly around his arm before he then sent them all into the fires of the volcano on which he rested, Kyuubi's eyes widening in fear as he grinned maliciously. _**"Look to the flames and you shall have your answer…"**_ Chernabog uttered ominously and Kyuubi slowly got up and walked over to the side of Chernabog's hand to look down…

What he saw was Sora, Donald, and Goofy, fighting and then defeating the black god… _**'Those little punks beat Lord Chernabog!?'**_ Kyuubi wondered with wide eyes and Chernabog reached down and crushed the vision of Sora and his friends in one hand, face twisting into a dark sneer.

"_**Those who walk with Light can harm me… but, they cannot hope to destroy me. I am The Black God of Demons, I am Unending Darkness, I am Chernabog, and I will not stand for this humiliation!"**_ Chernabog replied darkly while closing his fist over Kyuubi, slowly crushing the Demonic Seeker in his grip. _**"And you will bring them to me worm… or suffer my wrath!"**_ Chernabog rumbled out angrily and Kyuubi nodded his head vehemently while trying to keep the Black-God from crushing him in his grip.

"**Yes! I get it! I'll help you!"** Kyuubi exclaimed loudly and Chernabog grinned evilly while releasing Kyuubi from his death grip. **"But how will I even find this boy and his two friends?"** Kyuubi then questioned and Chernabog merely lowered his hand into the flames of the Volcano of his home world, Bald Mountain, then pulled some lava from the volcano and clenched his fist over it. Releasing his grip on the lava revealed what looked like a horse made from lava, its eyes a burning crimson and dark almost bat like wings stretching from his backs and to its sides as it neighed loudly, a burst of fire forming from its nostrils.

"_**This steed will take you from world to world in the realm of light. That is all the power it holds however, unless in the realm of Darkness where it will gain strength."**_ Chernabog replied then narrowed his eyes on Kyuubi with a sneer as he dropped the tiny Demonic-Seeker next to the lava-horse. _**"And remember worm, should you betray me, your suffering will never end."**_ Chernabog's voice echoed ominously and Kyuubi nodded his head before hopping onto the back of the steed as it neighed once more and flapped its wings, flying from Chernabog's hand and into the air.

Grinning as the Demonic-Seeker left him and disappeared into a dark portal, Chernabog folded his arms over his chest… biding his time and waiting for the day when he would take his vengeance…

--

TBC…

--

AN: The "Xehanort Report" in this chapter is from BBS, I found that it's on the KH-Wiki so I figured why not give Naruto a little more insight to the old man and his life compared to Sora by having him start to find them. As for the last bit, I felt Chernabog from KH1 deserved a better appearance, his cameo as a boss was great since I liked Fantasia, but he just appeared out of no where for no reason… well… this time he has a reason, and he's back with a vengeance… Now before anyone yells about Kyuubi being afraid, Chernabog was originally introduced by Walt Disney, not as "Chernabog", but rather as "Lucifer Himself"… nuff said…

Here's a list of Naruto's Keyblades thus far…

Dark-Heart: A Keyblade with the corrupting Powers of Darkness capable of creating Heartless from anyone cut by its blade. A lightweight Keyblade of the Realm of Darkness perfect for single handed use, due to its function, this weapon is useless against Heartless though is very effective against Somebodies and Soulless.

Soul-Blade: An inherently evil Keyblade with the power to devour souls. A surprisingly light keyblade well suited for singe or double handed use, perfect for fighting Soulless or Somebodies, though it is all but useless against Heartless.

Gears of Madness: An old Keyblade that once belonged to the Apprentice of Master Xehanort. A Light weight Keyblade that unlike his other blades has the ability to destroy Heartless, though is useless against Soulless…

Vorpal-Key: A Keyblade forged from a shard of the Vorpal-sword, capable of cutting through anything, even a foot of solid steel. A heavy double handed Keyblade, requires two hands to use properly, useless against Heartless and Soulless, but perfect for use against Somebodies and Nobodies…


	27. The Court of Order

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 26**_: _**"The Court of Order"**_…

--

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

--

(Twilight-Town…)

"Okay, how many users of Darkness are still around?" Sora asked while looking towards where Xine had been and scratching his head.

"I'm beginning to wonder that myself…" Riku muttered with a shake of his head and Mickey sighed while walking between the two.

"Xine… looks like he's still both a Living Arsenal and a Seeker of Darkness." King-Mickey said with a shake of his head and crossed his arms over his chest. Blinking, Sora looked to the King with obvious confusion before crossing his arms behind his neck.

"So, how do you know that guy anyway?" Sora questioned of the king curiously and both Donald and Goofy nodded their heads.

"Yeah your majesty, I don't ever remember running into that there fellar." Goofy offered while scratching his head and Donald glared at his tall friend with his arms crossed over his chest.

"He probably met him on his travels across the worlds Goofy." Donald reminded and Goofy blinked for a moment before slowly nodding his head. "Right your majesty?" Donald questioned while leaning towards the king and Mickey nodded his head slowly while frowning in thought.

"Like I said, Xine was a Royal-Guard for Radiant Garden a long time ago, but I met him when he traveled the worlds in search of knowledge in gaining the powers of Darkness." Mickey explained and Sora frowned while crossing his arms.

"Kind of like that Xehanort guy you mentioned. You know, the one who called himself Ansem." Sora mused aloud and King-Mickey shook his head with a frown.

"No. Xine wasn't willing to allow his own world suffer the backlash of Seeking its power. Xine traveled the worlds in search of a safe way to channel its abilities. I met him when he was meddling in the affairs of few of the worlds he went too. One of them was Atlantica, where he told Ariel stories of the outside worlds and protected her from Ursula when she tried kidnapping her to force king Triton to relinquish his trident to her. Another world was when he went and helped an alien named Jumba collect DNA to create that little blue fella Experiment 626, or as you know him Sora, Stitch." Mickey explained and Sora blinked before snickering as he remembered the little blue alien.

"So, that doesn't sound so bad your majesty." Sora noted and briefly wondered if attacking the man was really a good thing…

"No? Maybe not, but Xine was also known to cause more than his fair share of mischief as well. I can't tell you how many times I caught him using his powers solely because he thought it'd be amusing. I tried to stop him of course, but at the time I hadn't learned to wield a Keyblade." Mickey explained and Goofy rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression across his features.

"So, what yer saying is that he went and muddled…" He started and Donald twitched.

"Meddled!" He shouted at Goofy and the dogman blinked before nodding his head.

"Right, Meddled with the worlds affairs because it was funny?" Goofy asked and Mickey nodded his head, Sora now seeing why that rule existed.

"So he was having fun messing with people?" Sora asked and King-Mickey nodded his head.

"Exactly. Xine loved playing with people, to him, all they were was something to amuse him. Regardless of his loyalty to his home-world, Xine considered anyone who was more serious than him as "Too Serious" and often played with them, humiliated them, and generally tormented them while telling them to "Lighten up some"…" Mickey explained and Sora snickered slightly while Riku rolled his eyes.

"Sounds like he isn't so bad King-Mickey, a little selfish maybe, but not so bad when you think of other Dark users." Sora mused mostly to himself while Riku shrugged his shoulders, though had to agree with the boy.

"Looks can be deceiving, Sora…" King-Mickey reminded sagely before frowning in thought for a moment. "But I suppose you have a point…" King-Mickey mused mostly to himself as he tapped the side of his head.

"Sora!" A voice suddenly called out and the youth turned, and then grinned upon seeing three familiar faces.

"Hayner! Pence! Olette!" He said as the three teens slid to a halt before him and the rest of his friends. "Wow, I was wondering where you guys were." Sora said with his hands on his hips and Olette crossed her arms behind her back.

"Hey, shouldn't you introduce us to your friends, Sora?" Riku suddenly said while looking to his brown haired friend and Sora blinked before nodding his head with a wide grin across his face.

"Right. Riku, Kairi, King-Mickey, this is Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Guys, you've already met Donald and Goofy, but these are the friends I was looking for last time we met." Sora explained to the three and Hayner grinned slightly while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Nice to meet you guys." Hayner offered while Mickey nodded to the three and Riku crossed his arms. Kairi merely walked over and smiled towards Olette.

"It's nice to see you three again." Kairi offered and Olette nodded her head with a smile across her face.

"You too Kairi. We were worried when that guy in the black cloak grabbed you." Olette offered and Kairi shrugged her shoulders before Sora put one of his arms over her shoulders with a grin.

"So guy's, where have you been? I figured we would've ran into you sooner." Sora mused aloud and Olette sighed while rubbing her temples.

"We were trying to find another friend of ours." She explained with a worried frown and Hayner nodded his head.

"Yeah, we heard a rumor he'd been seen in town recently and wanted to make sure he was okay. Thus far we've turned up zilch." Hayner explained with a slight scowl across his face and Sora blinked while crossing his arms behind his head.

"Really? Who, maybe we've seen him… or her." Kairi questioned of the three and Pence grinned.

"Well… he kind of looked like this Roxas kid me and the guys have been dreaming about, had a slightly different voice though. His name is Naruto, we met him when he landed in our Usual spot." Pence offered, Sora snapping his head to them, as did the others when they recognized the name from the blond Seeker. "Yeah, he's really a nice guy, once you get to know him, I bet you two would get along just fine." Pence mused aloud and Sora grimaced while scratching the tip of his nose.

"So, where did he come from?" Riku asked while walking towards Hayner and the wavy haired blond shook his head.

"Hell if I know man. He kind of just appeared out of nowhere and stayed in town for a couple days. Then one day while we were checking out a rumor at Sunset Terrace he just up and vanished on us. He was looking into this one mirror one second, the next thing we know, he's walking through it into this dark hole." Hayner explained and Riku frowned for a moment, cupping his chin with a thoughtful expression.

"Obviously a Corridor of Darkness, but I've never heard of them opening of their own volition before." Riku mused while Mickey frowned and crossed his arms before nodding his head in agreement with the silver haired teen.

"Sounds pretty suspicious if you ask me." Donald replied and Sora cleared his throat before grinning towards a confused Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

"Well guys, if we see your friend we'll tell him you were looking for him." Sora offered and Hayner shrugged his shoulders.

"We're not too worried, we just wanted to know if he was okay. But, judging by the way he saved out skins, I'd say he's more than capable of protecting himself." Hayner mused before he and his two friends walked, off, Sora blinking for a moment.

"So wait… he saved Hayner, Pence, and Olette… but what for?" Sora suddenly questioned and Riku was silent for a moment before taking a guess.

"Not everyone in the darkness is evil Sora, we've seen that first hand. DiZ or Ansem the wise used Darkness but clearly wasn't evil, misguided, but not evil. Even some Heartless are friendly, remember that we can't always judge the Darkness by the few users we know of that are evil." Riku reminded and Sora frowned before nodding his head in agreement with the silver haired teen. "Don't you think King-Mickey?" Riku asked of the mouse and the King-Frowned for a moment before smiling softly as he remembered a "Friend of a Friend" who had used his Dark Powers to protect…

"Right. While Darkness can corrupt you if your not careful, people who are strong of heart and spirit can resist its corruption." Mickey offered and then crossed his arms over his chest with a strange expression.

"Yeah… I noticed he never once tried to use a dirty tactic or method while we were fighting, but still that "Naruto" guy was pretty strange. All he seemed to want to do was test himself… but why did he want to test himself against me so bad in the first place?" Sora wondered and Donald and Goofy looked to one another and shrugged their shoulders.

"Maybe, since he uses a Keyblade, he wanted to see how well he could do against a more experience Keyblade user." Goofy suggested and Sora frowned, wondering if that was really the case for a moment before King-Mickey decided to interrupt them.

"Hate to break up this fascinating conversation fella's, but I think we need to get back to finding the pages to Xehanort's Research." King-Mickey suddenly reminded the others and Sora nodded his head. "Now then, if we're going to be looking around the worlds for Xehanort's Research, we should probably split up to cover more distance." Mickey mused aloud and Sora blinked while looking at the mouse.

"Uh, are you so sure that's such a good idea your majesty. I know we've all gotten a lot stronger but…" Sora started to say only for Mickey to smile as he held his hand out to form his Keyblade.

"Don't worry Sora. I'll go with Kairi myself to keep her safe." King-Mickey offered and then watched as Sora visibly relaxed at the King's words.

"Hey, then what about da rest of us your majesty?" Goofy asked the and King-Mickey looked towards the four remaining warriors and smiled.

"Donald, you should go with Riku since he's not well versed in the way of Magic. Goofy, you can go with Sora." Mickey offered and Goofy grinned towards Sora while Donald scowled up towards Riku, the teen crossing his arms as he did.

"Hey, this isn't my idle line up either duck." Riku grumbled and Donald growled angrily towards the teen.

"Now now, none of that. We have work to do and worlds to search." King-Mickey reminded and Sora and Goofy nodded their heads before running off to get thei gummy ship ready. Scoffing, Riku walked off with an annoyed Donald following the Silver haired Teen. Sighing, King-Mickey shook his head towards Donald before turning to Kairi.

"Where should we go first King-Mickey?" She asked and the mouse grinned widely towards the girl.

"Radiant Garden of course. What better place to look for pages from Xehanort's Research?" King-Mickey asked and Kairi gave the mouse that he had a point as they made their way towards the King's personal Gummy ship…

--

(Silent-Hill…)

Naruto was walking with Axel and Larxene down another one of the halls in the hotel with a frown. "Why aren't we just breaking any of these doors down? At the very least it'd make getting out of here easier." Naruto suddenly asked then noted with a frown and Axel grimaced while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, well Larxene tried that. She knocked a door down on the bottom floor; nearly fell into a pit of spikes behind it. The Doors are dangerous around here. Got it memorized?" Axel offered the young blond and Naruto blinked for a moment before shivering and crossed his arms behind his head.

"So… those locked doors lead to traps, then… is Alessa helping us?" Naruto wondered to himself with a frown and Alice blinked at his side.

"Alessa? As in the same Alessa who had "Witch" and all manor of curses carved into her desk at that school?" Alice wondered and Axel blinked before looking to the others with a strange look.

"Wait, you guys heard about this Alessa chick too?" Axel asked and Naruto nodded his head, Alice mirroring him. "Well what do you know? Travis told me and Tira that he once helped save a girl named Alessa…" Axel said and Larxene frowned visibly at that little tidbit of information.

"This world in its entirety revolves around that girl. Doesn't it?" She asked of Naruto and the blond slowly nodded his head before crossing his arms.

"Alessa Gillespie… she was born with an amazing. But… many of the people of this town didn't see it that way. Some called her a which, a religious sect known simply as The Cult urged their children to torment her. Others, who were of a separate group known as The Order saw a use for Alessa… Her mother was a member of the order, and in order to destroy The Cult, The Order burned Alessa alive in order to give birth to their god through her…" Naruto explained and Larxene grimaced while looking around.

"That explains this world, it's what she saw everything as… this isn't supposed to be Hell, it's how she saw the world around her." Larxene noted and Axel scowled deeply while noticing a look on Alice's face.

"You okay?" Axel asked and Alice shook her head.

"Wonderland… this world mirrors Wonderland's Function. It was conjured up by Alessa's tormented mind. But unlike me, she can't work through this kind of pain, she's not strong enough to escape the Darkness she created around herself." Alice said and Naruto leaned back into a wall for a moment before walking down the hall.

"No. She just doesn't want to escape." Naruto stated and Alice turned towards him and walked over to his side.

"How can you know that for sure?" She asked and Naruto sighed softly before reaching up and pulling his hood down to face the girl.

"Because… I met her. She split her mind, body, soul, and heart apart. Her heart is consumed by Darkness. Her Mind wanders this world helping travelers through their own problems. Her Body is unmoving Husk. Both her Mind and Heart yearn and long for vengeance on the ones who had tormented her in life, and to achieve this goal, she dragged this world even further into the Darkness. And her Soul is outside of this terrible place, and it carries with it the sole glimmer of light that she had left…" Naruto explained calmly and Alice looked at him with wide eyes as he then turned around and walked towards a door.

"So what are you doing then?" Axel asked and Naruto stopped before chuckling lightly in his throat.

"I'm following my heart and doing what I think is right… and to me, helping Alessa, a Shadowed Princess who didn't ask for this fate, is what's right." Naruto replied and then looked to the others silently. "So, will you help me help her?" Naruto asked and Axel looked to Larxene before nodding his head, a deep scowl across his face.

"I've seen some pretty nasty characters in the realm of light… but none of them were as twisted as this. If you're going to take them down, then count me in." Axel replied while Larxene frowned for a moment while tapping on her chin with a finger.

"Anyone who'd torment a little girl like that deserves to be buried alive. Regardless of the fact I've done my unfair share of tormenting people. And since I'm feeling especially vindictive today, I guess I'll help you out." Larxene offered while forming her Knives into her hands and Tira grinned insanely while looking to the blond haired youth.

"Just give the order master and I'll happily skin this Order and all its members alive for you!" Tira offered while fingering her ringblade as it was slung over her shoulder, Larxne turning to her with a blank look.

"Wouldn't you do that happily anyways?" She asked and Tira nodded her head, Larxene rolling her eyes at the girl's antics as she did.

"Alessa has lived a harsh life, as a fellow Shadowed Princess, I will aide in avenging her on these vile fools with extreme prejudice!" Alice stated while fingering her Vorpal-Blade, her emerald green eyes taking a much darker light as she did so. Looking to his group silently for a moment, Naruto then smiled slightly before turning around.

"Thanks, now lets get moving, we've still got a large group of psychotic nut jobs to destroy completely and utterly." Naruto stated while walking off, Axel, Larxene, Alice and Tira following after him as he came to a door with a large Keyhole in the center.

"Well doesn't that just figure?" Axel said mostly to himself while Naruto pulled Dark-Heart from his back and stabbed it into the Keyhole before unlocking it. Pulling his Keyblade free, Naruto then opened the door and the group found them on the ground floor outside… However, the outside world was now clearly a Nightmare with grates and steel plates along the ground as far as the eye could see, platforms of metal the only thing holding those grates and steel plates up, the typical industrial look of the world was also around them, blood splattered here and there with more Monsters along the way.

"Okay… but weren't we on the top floor just a second ago?" Axel questioned while turning and then shook his head upon seeing the door they had been in was now gone, replaced by a wall with a Map on it. Walking over to the map, Axel pulled it down and then showed it to the others. The map was simple with a "You are here" written in childish scrawl next to a circle with a line bending and curving from the circle and forming a path to an X at the other side of the map.

"Looks like we've got a long way to go." Naruto noted and Larxene looked at the map warily.

"How can you be so sure this is from that Alessa girl?" Larxene questioned and Naruto turned the map around, the words "Thank you for caring" written boldly in red. "Oh." Larxene mumbled softly while Naruto folded the note up and placed it into his black cloak. Reaching back, the boy then pulled his Soul-Blade and Dark-Heart Keyblades free before leaning them into his shoulders as he turned.

"Alright, stick close to me. I think I know the way." Naruto stated while lunging forward, Swinging Soul-Blade into a Straightjacket monster before running into another and slicing it as well.

"Well, you heard the man." Axel said with a chuckle as he formed his Chakrams and ran after Naruto, throwing his weapons at a few stray monsters.

"Hey! Leave some for me you two!" Larxene called out as she ran with the two, forming her knives as she got close to Axel. Blinking at the display, Alice then looked to Tira only to see the girl happily cutting a monster in half before following after Naruto.

"Oh dear. I really must learn what they all find so amusing about fighting this much." Alice said to herself before running out after the other's as they tore the monsters apart along the way. Making their way through dozens of monsters, the group soon came towards a building where the X on the map had been. Naruto smirked when he saw a staircase leading down into the ground then cursed when several Straightjackets and other types of Monsters lumbered their way. Rolling under a wad of acid from a Straightjacket, Naruto then watched as Alice's Jax-O'-Death flew into them, ripping them apart.

"I believe I can handle these creatures on my own. The rest of you should go on ahead and help Alessa." Alice stated while her fingers twitched over her Vorpal Blade, Naruto grunting when she did.

"Great… Tira, stick with Alice, kill anything that comes near you, her, or this building, and keep her alive." Naruto ordered and Tira grinned widely as she flipped and landed next to Alice. Twisting on her foot she then threw her Ring-Blade into what Travis had called a "Mannequin". The monster fell into two pieces while Naruto, Axel, and Larxene rushed down the flight of steps to get to their final destination.

"Finally, it's time to play!" Tira exclaimed happily as she twisted on her heel, swinging her Ring-Blade and cutting one of the Straightjackets in half, Alice throwing her Jax-O'-Death at a couple Hell-Hounds before flipping her Vorpal-Blade up and catching it, then threw it at another…

As the girls fought the Monsters above, Naruto and the two Nobodies came to a large door at the bottom of the stairs. Entering into the next room, they found an old chapel of some sort; all the seats were vacant while a large pedestal had been moved at the end of it, revealing a secret passage. "Alright, time to finish this." Naruto stated while walking over to the passage with Axel and Larxene. Stopping, both Nobodies then turned and Axel rolled his eyes seeing numerous Heartless start to rise out of the ground around them.

"Why am I not surprised?" Axel wondered while shaking his head and both he and Larxene took quick stances. "Hey, you going to be alright on you own from here?" Axel questioned of Naruto and the blond looked around for a moment before nodding his head to the red head. "Good, then allow us to have some fun while we deal with these Heartless." Axel offered as his Chakrams were suddenly covered in fire and spinning beneath his hands.

"Right. Just b careful you two." Naruto offered then stated before running down the long corridor, Axel smirking as he looked over to a grinning Larxene.

"Careful? What does he take us for?" Axel wondered while Larxene lunged at a Heartless, swinging her blades while Axel started throwing his Chakrams into them…

Meanwhile, Naruto was running down the passage when he slid to a halt. A doorway before him with an odd circular symbol with a pyramid in the center and numerous symbols over it emblazoned on the door. "What is this?" Naruto wondered and then quickly turned and readied his Keyblades when he felt someone was behind him.

"Do you do this to everyone who walks up behind you? Or am I just an exception?" Angela quipped with her arms crossed and a tilted head and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her.

"Angela… what are you doing in a place like this?" Naruto questioned and Angela merely ignored him as she walked towards the door before cupping her chin as she looked at the design thoughtfully.

"The Seal of Metatron, or Virun VII Crest… I haven't seen this particular seal being used in quite a while." She mused mostly to herself and Naruto raised a brow towards the female Soulless.

"Okay… then what does it do?" Naruto questioned and Angela nodded her head once more before turning her head towards him.

"The thing is, no one but the caster would know what it does. And even then, it's nearly impossible to control. You'd have to be pretty desperate for results to use it." Angela replied while crossing her arms over her chest and turning back to Naruto.

"Alessa…" Naruto whispered and Angela nodded her head. "So, do you think she's back there?" Naruto asked and Angela shrugged her shoulders before walking to the side of the door. "Hey you still haven't told me what were you doing down here anyways Angela?" Naruto reminded the Soulless and Angela stopped for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.

"I was passing through, so I thought I'd help a friend out." Angela offered vaguely before running down the hall, the sounds of what sounded like Soulless dying echoing from where she was heading. Smirking slightly and shaking his head, Naruto turned back to the door and reached a hand out.

"Thanks for the help, Angela." Naruto whispered before turning back to the door and opening it, his eyes widening as a blinding light came from it… Slowly opening his eyes, Naruto found himself in a room of pure light, looking around; the youth frowned before making his way towards the end of the room. Stopping, Naruto quickly turned around to find Dark-Alessa standing behind him with a strange smirk across her lips. "Hello Alessa…" Naruto offered softly while the girl circled him for a moment.

"It's good to see you've made it passed all the traps." She stated while turning her back to the blond haired boy. "But then again, she was helping you get here." Dark-Alessa mused mostly to herself as she crossed her arms behind her back.

"Who?" Naruto asked and then blinked as realization hit him. "Do you mean, Alessa's mind?" Naruto questioned and the Dark-Alessa nodded her head with a light smirk across her lips.

"Of course. If she hadn't helped you, you'd have never found this place. The Order aren't idiots after all, they knew you were here. They can also control the monsters of this world like I can, as well as those little Heartless things. If Alessa hadn't been steering you and your friends out of their way, they would've found and killed you all." Dark-Alessa replied with a wave of one hand before turning to face Naruto with a smirk.

"I don't think we'd be that easy to kill." Naruto stated flatly and Dark-Alessa had to give him that much before she crossed her arms behind her back.

"True, but they have more power here than you think. It would be unwise to allow you to unnecessarily put yourself into Danger when we could just as easily lead you to your goal." Dark-Alessa replied curtly and Naruto frowned before nodding his head in agreement with the girl.

"Then that's why Alessa put all the traps behind locked doors and kept most of the ones that were safe available to us. To keep us from running into The Order or their own monsters along the way." Naruto realized and Dark-Alessa nodded her head once more and watched as the blond looked around the room. "Why is there so much light here?" Naruto asked while looking around and Dark-Alessa sighed for a moment…

"That should be obvious… even to someone like you, Dobe?" Sasuke's voice came out mockingly and Naruto turned to see the black haired youth walking towards him while Dark-Alessa frowned. "So I finally meet the Demon of Silent-Hill. Looks like Christabella was right about where you'd after all." He then stated while looking at Dark-Alessa and she sneered towards the teen.

"I see the Cult's new lapdog has finally figured out where to look for the greatest Darkness." Dark-Alessa said mockingly, and then smirked at the confused look on Sasuke's face. "A strong Light makes Darkness stronger, as does a strong Darkness make Light stronger… so the perfect place to look for the Darkness is closer to the Light." Alessa replied and Sasuke looked around, noting the nearly endless light around them.

"I have no idea what you're trying to say. Though, I have to admit you were very clever. Hiding yourself from the Soulless by coming to this place of light, where none of them thought to look for you. Very clever little girl." Sasuke praised before forming his sword at his side while Naruto pulled his Dark-Heart and Soul-Blade from his back.

"Back off Teme, I won't let you hurt her." Naruto stated and Sasuke gave the blond haired boy a look.

"You won't let me hurt HER? The same person who's not only torn this city apart and turned it into a literal living hell, but also punished those within it by turning them into freakish monsters that do her bidding?" Sasuke demanded incredulously and Naruto clenched his fists on the hilts of his Keyblades.

"You only know the basics of what she's done Teme… there's a lot more to it than just that. Alessa was a tormented girl; it isn't her fault that any of this happened! If you want to hurt the ones responsible, the go find The Order of The Cult." Naruto stated and Sasuke looked at the said girl and shivered upon seeing her obsidian like eyes.

"She isn't human Dobe, she's a monster. I don't know what lies she's been telling you, but far from innocent in her actions." Sasuke stated and Naruto took a stance the black haired teen shaking his head as he did. "Fine then, I just wanted to kill the Demon so I could stop the Darkness from spreading out into other worlds… but, if you insist on protecting her…" Sasuke said while snapping his fingers several Soulless appearing around him. "Then I guess I'll just have to take you out as well!" Sasuke called out while Naruto narrowed his eyes, both turning amber gold as the Darkness rose from below him and started to wrap around his body.

"No way… I won't let you hurt her!" Naruto called out while Sasuke took a stance with his Soulless on guard.

"Typical… you always did fight for the wrong reasons Dobe." Sasuke said to no one in particular while Naruto lunged forward. Swinging Dark-Heart at Sasuke, Naruto growled as a Soulless blocked and Sasuke swung his sword at the teen. Flipping over the attack, Naruto swung his blade at a Soulless and then kicked Sasuke in the back, knocking him forward. Blocking two more Soulless from beside him, Naruto then twirled his Keyblades to knock them off balance before stabbing them with his Keyblades.

Grunting, Sasuke got to his feet and smirked slightly before snapping his fingers to call more Soulless. "Don't you get it dobe, I've got an army of warriors just waiting to tear you apart. And all you've got is a couple of silly keys." Sasuke stated and Naruto felt a pool of Darkness open up below him and start to crawl up his body as Neo-Shadows and Shadows rose up from below him. The Darkness then began to crawl along the room, Sasuke looking around in shock as what had once been a Room of Light was now a Room of Twilight, Darkness and Light intermingling with one another…

"You have Soulless. Yeah, I know that much Teme. You have an army of light that's willing to help you." Naruto growled out as his eyes turned bright amber gold and wisps of Shadow started to waft from his body. "But, I have power and an army of my own…" Naruto stated simply as the Heartless crawled out of the room all around them. Upon seeing this, Dark-Alessa smirked while backing up and vanished into thin air as Naruto's Dark-Armor suddenly formed over his body.

_[So, allow me to show you, what a Seeker of Darkness can really do!]_ Naruto growled out while taking a stance, Sasuke snarling.

"Some things never change… you're still in my way!" Sasuke roared while lunging at Naruto with the Soulless, Naruto's heartless following him as he swung at Sasuke, locking blades with the other teen…

--

(Castle-Oblivion…)

Xine walked into the castle quietly while looking around with a wide red eye. "This place…" He whispered as he walked to the side and placed a hand onto the wall, and then closed his eyed. "I've been here before. But when?" Xine wondered to himself before walking deeper into the castle. Looking around, Xine soon came to a door and placed his hand onto it before closing his eye.

"Yeah… back then. Before…" Xine whispered as he opened his eye, then knelt down as he found a card below him. Reaching out Xine picked up the card and saw what appeared to be a strange world with a castle on the top of it. Licking his lips, Xine turned back to the door before holding up the card and widened his eyes as a bright light emitted from it and spread out over the entire room…

Instantly the room was changed, pure white replaced with bright blues and gold's, familiar heart shaped symbols on the walls, while outside of a window rested a beautiful world, massive, heavy chains seemingly holding the castle to a pair of mountains… "The… The Land of Departure." Xine whispered before turning back to the door. Walking over to it, Xine slowly pushed the door open and a bright light escaped and came over him…

--

_Xine sighed while brushing his hair back. He wondered if maybe coming to this world with that old man was such a good idea. "So, are you sure this is a good place for me?" Xine asked while the old man, AKA Master Xehanort nodded his head._

"_You have a strong Heart Xine, but it hasn't been rooted down yet. You need some stability in your heart and I believe that Master Eraqus is the one to give it too you." Master Xehanort replied with a smirk and Xine scoffed before adjusting his glasses and turned his crimson red eyes towards the horizon._

"_Well, I've got to admit that this place does have a nice view." Xine admitted before looking over to Xehanort. "So, why don't you have an apprentice old man?" Xine questioned and the old man sighed for a moment._

"_I've yet to find someone whom I believe I could teach. Besides, I'm not THAT old yet." Xehanort grumbled and Xine snickered to himself._

"_Keep telling yourself that old timer." Xine offered while Xehanort grumbled while walking towards the doors of the Land of Departure._

"_Xine you shouldn't make fun of Master-Xehanort. At least he was kind enough to give us this lift here. Me so I can continue my research into the Light and you to see about this silly keyblade thing…" A person reminded and Xine shrugged while turning to the voices owner…_

"_Whatever Andross…" He said with a roll of his eyes just as everything went to static…_

--

Opening his eye, Xine looked all around before blinking as he saw a long hallway behind the door. Placing a hand to his head, the man then closed his eye once more while wondering about that memory. It was an old one, many years old considering he'd had both eyes in it… and that person, Andross, who is he?" Xine wondered to himself before looking into the hall of the castle and frowned. "Well, might as well find out." Xine mused as he walked into the castle; unaware of a figure watching him, dressed in an old brown cloak with X shaped straps over its torso…

--

(Silent-Hill…)

A battle between light and Darkness raged on. Heartless and Soulless attacking one another viciously, intent on one another's destruction. Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke clashed with their blades. Sasuke's Sword of Light withstanding the Dark-Energy seeping from the two Dark-Keyblades. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke held the two keyblades back with his single sword while Naruto slowly pushed him back. "Dammit dobe… this doesn't even concern you… why are you getting involved!?" Sasuke demanded and Naruto tilted his head before twisting his Keyblades, knocking Sasuke's sword up before kicking him in the chest.

_[Because… I know what it's like to be tormented by everyone around you, just like Alessa does. So I'll be the one who helps her.]_ Naruto replied while twirling his Keyblades into a stance before lunging at Sasuke once more. Swinging his Keyblades he growled as Sasuke rolled out of the way and reared his arm back. Swinging his sword, Sasuke sent an arc of light flying towards Naruto, the blond Seeker merely narrowing his eyes as he blocked it with his Keyblades.

_[Really Teme, a beam of Light? Is that all the power you have?]_ Naruto mocked while shaking his head and Sasuke grit his teeth before clenching his fist onto the sword.

"You wish dobe." He gritted out as sword of light formed around him. Roaring out, Sasuke then lunged at the Blond Seeker and swung his sword. Instantly, the swords of light flew from around the youth and straight at Naruto. Chuckling slightly, Naruto backed up into a Dark-Corridor, evading the light while Sasuke slid to a halt, only for Naruto to launch himself out of the ground below him, knocking Sasuke back. "Why… why am I weaker than you?" Sasuke demanded while glaring at Naruto, the blond Seeker crossing his arms as the Heartless around him destroyed the last of Sasuke's Soulless, thus bathed the room in darkness…

_[You wouldn't understand Teme; you're too blinded by the Light to see the truth.]_ Naruto stated simply and Sasuke snarled, lunging at the blond with a stab only to be backhanded away from the other teen. Looking up, Sasuke's eyes widened upon seeing The Shade, the creature's arm outstretched while Naruto cocked his head to one side.

"Wh… what the hell is that?" Sasuke demanded while Naruto began to float off the ground, the Shade placing a hand on his shoulder while clenching one fist at his side. Chuckling to himself, the blond teen began to float over to Sasuke, the Shade glaring at the other teen while Heartless all around the room cut off any mode of escape. Looking around in shock, Sasuke then gritted his teeth while looking up towards Naruto.

_[This is The Shade, a Heartless that's existence is bound to my own. It was a gift from Alessa, and now, we'll end you, and my ties to the past once and for all…]_ Naruto stated darkly as the Shade lashed out, grabbing Sasuke by his arms and lifting him up before the blond haired youth.

"This… isn't your usual style…" Sasuke noted while Naruto tilted his head, the black glass of his helmet melting away to show his amber-gold eyes.

"No… it isn't. But you have to remember, things change Teme." Naruto stated before holding back Dark-Heart, Sasuke's eyes widening for a moment, before a smirk crossed his face.

"You won't kill me… no matter what you say, Naruto you won't break your promise to her…" Sasuke stated and Naruto was silent for a moment before stabbing Dark-Heart into Sasuke's chest, Darkness spreading from it over his body…

"Shut up Teme, this time I won't forgive you. Regardless of what Sakura wants, I won't let you just walk away from here." Naruto stated before closing his eyes, a sad smile crossing his features as he looked at the teen before him. "Now the rest is very easy Teme… just open your heart, surrender it to the Darkness… Become Darkness itself!" Naruto uttered darkly while quickly turning Dark-Heart and pulling it out of Sasuke's chest…

For a moment, Sasuke just looked at Naruto with wide eyes before gasping as Darkness quickly spread over his body. Mentally giving an order to The Shade, Naruto watched as the teen fell to the ground in a heap. Looking to his arms with wide eyes, Sasuke turned now bright yellow eyes up towards Naruto as he sheathed his Keyblades on his back and crossed his arms. Turning around and snapping his fingers, The Shade and Heartless vanishing while the Black Glass reformed over Naruto's face.

Gasping, Sasuke widened his yellow eyes before slowly reaching out for Naruto as Darkness rose over his body. Helpless to do anything as he saw Darkness creep into the edges of his vision, Sasuke watched as Naruto walked away from him. However the blond then stopped at a distance from the other teen and looked towards him. _[Goodbye… Sasuke.]_ Naruto said before turning once more as Darkness slowly consumed Sasuke's vision, and then completely pulled him into its depths…

Walking away from his former friend, Naruto came to a door and stopped. "That was quite ruthless of you." Dark-Alessa noted with a smirk from his side and Naruto was silent for a moment. "However, that tactic won't work on someone Dahlia. She already serves Darkness, you'd only make her stronger with that Keyblade." Alessa stated and Naruto looked down before reaching behind his back and withdrawing Gears-of-Madness. Opening the door silently, Naruto walked away while Dark-Alessa smirked slightly while vanishing into a wall…

Walking down a long hall, Naruto came to another door and merely kicked it down with a slight grunt. Walking into the room, Naruto saw a girl in a wheelchair. His eyes widened upon seeing her dead eyes, and that she was nearly fourteen, and had numerous disfiguring scars from burns over her skin… however, she almost completely mirrored Dark-Alessa from her black hair to her pale skin, though her own eyes appeared almost blue and bandages and a blue robe with a blanket coming down over her legs were all that covered her body.

_[So… we finally meet Alessa.]_ Naruto mused to himself as he walked towards the burned girl, ignoring several figures that walked out of the shadows dressed in triangular shaped hoods. Walking passed all of them; Naruto stopped before Alessa, or at least her husk and then looked around. _[So then, which of you is dumb enough to try something?]_ Naruto questioned flatly while a woman stepped out of the shadows. She looked very old, with gray hair cut to chin length, with an odd headdress, he could see a white skirt with a blue line over it under what looked like dark brown ceremonial robes with a red and black striped tie around her neck, and was clearly barefoot.

"Who are you, and why do you meddle in our affairs?" The woman demanded and Dark-Alessa walked out from behind Naruto with narrowed eyes. "Ah, I see. So Alessa brought you here to stop us?" The woman questioned and Naruto shook his head silently before leaning Gears of Madness into his shoulder.

_[She may have led me here, but I'll gladly get rid of this Order…]_ Naruto stated and the woman scoffed before looking at him with a scowl.

"Even if you should kill me, The Order will always live on. So long as even one who believes is alive, we shall always live on!" The woman exclaimed and Dark-Alessa crossed her arms over her chest.

"Perhaps it will, but without you the ritual to summon your so-called "God" will never be completed. Besides, we don't want revenge on ALL of The Order, just you… Mother." Dark-Alessa growled out while Naruto blinked while looking from the unmoving Alessa then to the old woman and did notice the very slight resemblance between them.

_[Dahlia… that's your name, right?]_ Naruto questioned and the old woman slowly nodded her head. Tightening his grip on GoM, Naruto took a stance with the blade and narrowed his amber-gold eyes on her, wisps of Darkness stretching from his body. _[Good, then I know who needs to pay for all this!]_ Naruto growled out and Dahlia looked to Dark-Alessa as the spirit smirked, then vanished into Naruto's shadow. Frowning, Dahlia crossed her arms as the strange beings in Triangular hoods lumbered towards her.

"So, Alessa choose a Champion to fight for her." Dahlia noted and then held out her arms for a moment. "You would have been wise not to challenge The Order, Boy." Dahlia then stated before throwing her arms forward, the men in hoods running towards Naruto. Crouching back, Naruto lunged forward, swinging GoM and sending a beam of energy from its blade slicing into the men. However, he then noticed they vanished in wisps, causing Naruto to frown deeply.

_[You turned them all into Heartless.]_ Naruto noted and Dahlia scoffed as more of the "men" lumbered towards Naruto.

"No, I freed them from the limited confines of their mortality and made them closer to our God." Dahlia replied and Naruto narrowed his eyes while looking around, the Heartless lumbering closer to him. "Deal with this wretch, we cannot allow him to stop the ritual now!" Dahlia ordered and Naruto roared while lunging at the Heartless, with a roar. Swinging GoM up Naruto sliced into one Heartless before turning on his heel to take out another one. Ducking under a swipe from one of the robed Heartless, Naruto then stabbed upwards into its neck.

Rolling out of the way as one lunged at him with a Sword; Naruto then reared his arm back and threw GoM. The Keyblade spun through several of the Heartless before turning and coming back to Naruto's outstretched hand in time to block two more swords from the Heartless. Pushing up with GoM Naruto knocked the two Heartless off balance before he twisted into a spinning slash, taking out every Heartless around him instantly. Standing up, Naruto then lunged at a Heartless with GoM pointed forward, then lunged at another in the same way, lunging at the next Heartless as he had the last few, Naruto then reared his arms back before slamming GoM into the last Heartless, taking it out instantly while Dahlia backed away from the blond haired Seeker.

Narrowing his eyes angrily, Naruto snapped his fingers, summoning The Shade while pointing GoM towards Dahlia. _[Now for you.]_ Naruto uttered angrily as The Shade narrowed its eyes onto Dahlia, hate clear in it's yellow gold eyes. Looking around for aide, Dahlia then shook her head as she backed away from Naruto. Grinning as an ominous Chanting began to echo around the room, Dahlia stopped on top of a seal in the center of the chamber.

"No, no it's not over yet. The Ritual is almost complete; even if you stop me Alessa's soul will still be called back to this town. And even if you kill me, someone else will rise to take my place…" Dahlia stated while stopping on top of a strange circular seal and spread her arms out wide. "So, even if Darkness takes me, The Order and out God will live on!" She called out while raising her arms up as Darkness suddenly rose out of the seal and swirled around her body. Grunting in his throat Naruto twirled GoM in his hand while taking a step back from the spectacle. Watching as the Darkness twisted around Dahlia's body, Naruto took a stance as a creature appeared from the Darkness…

What was revealed was a creature with completely black skin, female in shape, with a small heart shape cut out of its upper chest, with bright yellow eyes, a strangely pumpkin like grin stretched over her face, and large black wings, her fingers turned into claws, her feet being toeless like the basic Shadows, her hair having formed into long Tentacles that wrapped around her entire body, and wisps of darkness rising from every pore of her body. (Pureblood Heartless: Black-Light…)

"Give up, give in, and fall before me!" Dahlia's voice exclaimed as the new Heartless vanished into a Portal. Blinking in surprised, Naruto then quickly rolled out of the way as Dahlia reappeared, swinging her claws at him wildly. Dodging the quick yet wild attacks Naruto then kicked the Heartless in the chest. Dahlia merely vanished in a plume of black smoke, Naruto's eyes widening as he and The Shade were attacked from behind with Dahlia's claws sinking into them both.

Flapping both of her wings, Dahlia pulled the two into the air before throwing both down to the ground. Quickly holding her arms into the air a ball of Darkness was formed which she threw down towards them. Looking up, Naruto pulled himself and The Shade into Darkness, evading the ball as it hit. Coming out above Dahlia, the two slammed into her. The Shade quickly wrapping its arms around her body, Dahlia struggling in its grasp as it did so.

Lashing out, Naruto slammed GoM into Dahlia's head, knocking her head to the side. However, yet again only a puff of smoke was there reward, the real Dahlia appearing below them. Placing a hand onto the ground, Dahlia conjured spikes of Darkness that shot out of the walls and floor all at once, heading straight for them. Cursing mentally, Naruto quickly held a hand forward. _[Defend!!]_ He cried quickly and The Shade groaned lowly while wrapping its form around him, a black shield of energy appearing and protecting him from the spikes.

Once the spikes were gone, The Shade fell from around Naruto body. Growling as he looked down at Dahlia, Naruto reared his arm back and threw GoM at her, the blade slamming into, then threw her as she turned into a puff of black smoke once more. _'Dammit, how many clones can she make?'_ Naruto wondered to himself before flipping in the air to evade a swipe from Dahlia as she appeared once more. Grunting, Naruto twisted into a kick to Dahlia, her form vanishing in another puff of smoke. Frowning, Naruto then pulled himself into a Dark-Corridor as Dahlia appeared in the air again.

Landing on the ground, Naruto looked around before seeing a distortion nearby in the Shadows around the room. _'Gotcha…'_ Naruto thought to himself while lunging at the Distortion, The Shade lashing out with a fist to it while Naruto twisted into a swing of GoM at Dahlia's true Heartless. Falling back, Dahlia flapped her wings and flipped into a crouch while her Clone vanished. Shaking her head, Dahlia had all of a Second before Naruto lashed out once more, slamming GoM into her face while The Shade grabbed her from behind him.

Snarling, The Shade tossed Dahlia into the air while Naruto vanished and then reappeared where Dahalia had been. Appearing above her, Naruto swung down into Dahlia before twisting around and knocking her into the air with a diagonal swing upwards. Twisting once more only into a horizontal swing, Naruto then finished the combo off by grasping GoM hilt with both hands and spinning into a final slash downwards, sending Dahlia flying into the ground. Moving through a Corridor back to the ground, Naruto lunged at Dahlia, only for her to quickly vanish.

"All things are meaningless before The Order's goals…" Dahlia's voice echoed around the room as Shadows began to rise up and then spiral around Naruto. Soon the Darkness began to compress on the blond and Naruto quickly teleported from its grasp as it closed in on nothing. Appearing outside of the sphere, Naruto looked around for Dahlia, only for one of her Clones to lunge at him, swinging its claws wildly. Evading the claws of Dahlia's clone, Naruto then had The Shade slam its fist into her as he looked around for the real Dahlia.

Grinning when he spotted a distortion, Naruto mentally willed The Shade to grab him before it threw him down towards her. Holding out GoM before himself, Naruto then swung as he got close to Dahlia, cutting straight through her Heartless as he rolled into a crouch behind her. Twirling GoM in hand for a moment, Naruto then placed it back into the Darkness behind him while turning to see Dahlia's Heartless fall to its knees. Smirking, Naruto turned towards Dahlia, only to look around as a bright light lit up all around him.

"F-fool…" Dahlia whispered as her body began to degrade, the light slowly spinning as it formed into Alessa's body. "M-my death is m-meaningless… for I have s-served my God well… I will be r-rewarded in paradise f-for my deeds here…" Dahlia managed to get out before Naruto merely dispelled The Shade and then held a hand towards her.

_[Just shut and burn already.]_ Naruto grumbled out angrily while shooting a ball of Dark-Fire into Dahlia, thus catching her Heartless body on fire. Looking up, at him as she burned away, Dahlia began to chuckle, then laughed insanely as she faded from existence entirely. Shaking his head, Naruto turned away from where she had been and turned to see Axel and the others.

"So, I take it things didn't go exactly as planned." Axel noted and Naruto merely nudged towards Alessa's body. Turning, the Redhead visibly grimaced upon seeing her, and then saw her eyes turn towards them. "Hey, I thought she was a mindless husk…" Axel noted and Dark-Alessa suddenly walked out from behind her body.

"She was… originally at least." Dark-Alessa offered while placing a hand on one of Alessa's arms as Naruto walked to Axel and the others.

"Then might I please ask, why she's moving?" Alice asked while walking towards Dark-Alessa, the younger girl looking up to her.

"Because her Mind was forced back into her body. The pain of living in thus husk was too much, and through that pain, her Soul will be called back to this town." Dark-Alessa replied and then smiled towards Alice. "I remember always reading about you Alice, I even wanted to see a Wonderland of my own when I was little. But sadly, dreams very rarely come true for we Princesses of Shadowed Hearts." Dark-Alessa then told the older Shadowed Princess and Alice managed a weak smile.

"Whoa wait a minute, you mean after all the hell we went through to get here, what your saying is that we still failed to stop The Order's plans?" Larxene asked with a scowl and Tira frowned and resisted the urge to hurt herself for her failure…

"No." Dark-Alessa stated and Naruto crossed his arms with a frown.

_[How's that? The Order has managed to call out to your Soul so it'll return to this place, right?]_ Naruto asked and Dark-Alessa nodded her head.

"So long as we still live… The Order will always have another chance to use us to summon their god. Our soul contains half of our overall power, and could also be used as we were… this cannot be allowed. So I'll take steps to ensure that doesn't ever happen. Besides that, The Cult still exist, and until I destroy them, my vengeance will remain incomplete." Dark-Alessa replied and then smirked as she looked to either side of the room. Instantly a very familiar "Thunk thunk, Scrape" echoed across the room.

"Hey! What the hell?" Axel demanded upon seeing a Pyramid Head lumbering towards them from a nearby doorway. Backing up his back came in contact with Larxene's, the blond woman looking on with wide eyes as a second Pyramid Head came from the other side of the room.

"Oh shit! Not these guys again!" Larxene called out loudly while Tira looked at the two creatures with a raised brow and tilted her head to one side.

"Those helmets must really be hell to wear like that." She noted mostly to herself and got incredulous looks from Axel and Larxene. The two Pyramid Heads lumbered towards the center of the room, then stopped and "looked" towards Naruto. The two then slowly knelt down and lifted their Great-Knives up, crossing them into an X before Naruto. Instantly a beam of energy formed from their joined blades and a red sphere appeared below them. Holding still, the two Pyramid Heads turned towards Naruto once more as he looked to Alessa warily.

"Take it." Dark-Alessa urged while Alessa herself looked towards the sphere vacantly. "It's a gift from the two of us. Use its power to destroy your enemies." Dark-Alessa urged and Naruto slowly got down and reached out before quickly snatching the red sphere form between the two Pyramid Heads. Holding up the red gem, Naruto saw a Great-Knife and Pyramid Heads Helmet was emblazoned within it.

_[Oh shit… whomever I unleash this one on is in for one hell of a bad day.]_ Naruto noted before placing the sphere with his other one behind his back. Blinking, Naruto then pulled something else from back there and found the crest he'd gotten from the Coliseum of The Gods was glowing. _[Well, looks like I know where we're heading next.]_ Naruto then said while a Dark-Corridor opened up nearby. Shivering slightly, Alice turned back to Dark-Alessa and knelt down to smile towards her.

"It was very nice meeting you. I hope we can meet again some day. Hopefully when things aren't so terrible for you." Alice offered and Dark-Alessa was silent for a moment before nodding her head slowly and walking back to stand behind to Alessa.

"C'mon Alice, we've got to get going!" Axel shouted urgently and Larxene quickly nodded her head in agreement with the man.

"Preferably before those Red Pyramid Things decide to dice us up!" Larxene exclaimed, bringing an amused smirk to Dark-Alessa's features while Alice walked away from the girl and made her way towards the others. Giving a wave to Alessa as they walked into the Dark-Corridor, they missed Dark-Alessa's final words.

"Thank you for caring…" She whispered softly before placing a hand onto Alessa's head, and brushed her hair back from her face…

--

(??)

_Falling_… _falling_… _deeper into darkness_…

The words echoed in his mind as he fell, memories of friends, family, battles, and other things slowly fading the further he fell.

_Is this my fate_? _Doomed to fall into oblivion_?

He wondered before looking down, seeing only more darkness as he closed his eyes once more.

_Perhaps_… _it's better this way_… _I lost myself to the darkness once_… _maybe_… _maybe it's where I truly belong now_…

He thinks to himself as memories fade, emotions slowly dissolve… and all that Uchiha Sasuke once was soon engulfed into Oblivion…

"_Hey, are you giving up already? C'mon Teme, I thought you were stronger than that…"_ The voice of Naruto suddenly echoed as a pair of bright yellow gold eyes opened up and a masculine form sat up on a dark-beach. Blinking, the being heard as waves washed up on shore. _'Am I… still me?'_ He wondered to himself while looking down at his body, eyes widening when he saw an inky black form. Moving over to the edge of the beach, Sasuke looked at himself and then bowed his head…

His body had the same height and build as his original self, however, a heart shape was cut out of his torso, blue veins crawled from his clawed fingers up over his forearms, a silver band was wrapped around his left thigh, a pair of Heartless crests were present over his collar, his toes were now sharp talons, with wisps of black and purple smoke stretching down over his form like a cape of some kind, blue veins crawled from his bright golden yellow eyes into a wing like pattern, a pair of short antenna like spikes poking from the back of his head, and his "Mouth" looked like a pumpkins jagged grin had been stretched across his face… (Heartless: Dark-Spawn…)

'_So… now I look like a monster… no, I look I should, I was already a monster before this, a foolish youth consumed by vengeance.'_ Sasuke thought to himself as he fell to his knees, then crossed his arms over his chest. _'The first time I fell into the grip of Darkness, it was because I sought out power for revenge. And this time… I fall because of that power, because of revenge and my own foolish pride. I'm such a fool…'_ Sasuke mused while closing his bright yellow eyes, then heard something to his side and turned his head. What he saw a was a woman, not much older than he was, with short spiky blue hair holding a Keyblade with an E for the teeth, near her was a man in a black cloak sitting on a rock.

"What are you?" The girl questioned and Sasuke closed his eyes as he looked down at his changed form before sighing.

"_**I mean you no harm, and I have no name…"**_ He croaked out before grasping his throat, eyes wide at hearing the deep, pain filled rasp that escaped his throat.

"It is rare that we get guests here… rarer still since you are a Heartless…" The man in the cloak commented, drawing the girl's attention as he turned his cloaked features towards the Heartless. "Yet your intelligent enough to speak. It is rare to find Heartless such as you, ones that are neither mindless nor evil." He said aloud and Sasuke bowed his head once more while looking to the waters as they washed up onto the beach.

"_**No… I truly am Evil, and a Fool if not mindless. I have done horrible things, terrible, unforgivable things… all for the sake of Vengeance."**_ Sasuke's deep rasp of a voice echoed out and the man shook his head before turning back to the sea, looking out to a glowing light in the distance.

"My memory is greatly faded… but I remember some things. Trying to take Vengeance, I did terrible things to a boy and his friends, I made clothes for the beings of nothing, and even created duplicates of them…" The man said softly while looking to one of his gloved hands, drawing Sasuke's attention to him. Seeing this, the girl looked at each of them for a moment, and then sighed as she dissipated her Keyblade and sat down between them.

"In the end, we are no different. I am no more evil than you are. Even as a Somebody I can be a Heartless monster, just as you are a Heartless who seems to regret what he has done in his true life. We are all… flawed beings, from birth; the forces of Light and Darkness as well as our own whims have swayed us so easily… that we continue to torment one another." The man mused aloud and Sasuke was silent for a moment before nodding his head in agreement with the man.

"_**Why are you two here? Your not of the Darkness like me…"**_ Sasuke questioned, then said softly while looking at Aqua, the light of her heart nearly blinding him. Clenching his fists he also noted it made his Dark powers flare, his cape arching as it to attack her…

"I was sent back here when I tried to correct my mistakes…" The man in the cloak commented simply while the girl closed her eyes and stretched out her arms.

"I'm here because I saved a friend… and I've been trapped here for a very long time now…" She admitted and Sasuke winced, sinking in on himself and pushing himself away from her. Her light, it was truly blinding, being near her was as painful as hearing her voice was… was this truly what it meant to be a heartless? To be forever pained to see the Light? Was THAT why they truly sough to destroy the Light, because it hurt them to see what they could no longer have?

"What about you? What did you do to end up in the sorry state your in? Or can you even remember?" The man suddenly questioned, his wise voice making Sasuke feel worse and worse as he realized he was the only true being of Darkness between them.

"_**Horrible things, so I believe that this form… this is my punishment, my curse to bear for the sins I committed in life."**_ Sasuke rasped out while looking to the distant moon of this strangely calm world of Darkness. _**"But…"**_ Sasuke then said while blinking and leaned back slightly as he watched the moon. _**"Perhaps if I use my curse, I can help you two escape this world…"**_ He mused aloud and the girl blinked before looking over to the Heartless strangely.

"Really? Then would you help my find my friends Terra and Ventus?" Aqua asked and Sasuke winced while shrinking away from her once more.

"_**Yes… I will help you as my penance."**_ Sasuke offered and then stood up, before turning to the two and rubbed the back of his neck. _**"I… I don't know how to leave… do either of you?"**_ He asked and the man chuckled good-naturedly before nodding his head to the Heartless.

"Channel your Darkness, seek out a light in the distance and you'll bring us to a new world." He offered and Sasuke nodded his head before closing his eyes and holding out a clawed hand, a Dark-Corridor opening before him as he did. Grinning, the blue haired girl suddenly shot up and walked over to the Corridor, only for Sasuke to hold and arm up to keep her from entering.

"_**One of Light, who walks through these, shall be tainted by Darkness without protection from its influence."**_ Sasuke stated while the man suddenly stood up and reached behind his back, producing what looked like another dark cloak.

"Aqua." He called, the girl turning and then catching the cloak as he tossed it to her. "That will protect your heart as we travel the Corridors…" He explained while crossing his arms behind his back and walked over to Sasuke before placing a hand onto the Heartless' shoulder. "Well now. I believe introductions are in order. I am known simply as Ansem." The man offered while Sasuke nodded and the girl gave a wary grin while pulling on the cloak and looking to the Heartless.

"I'm Master Aqua." She stated and Sasuke tilted his head at the "Master" bit before nodding and then looked at his form before deciding what would be an adequate name for one like him.

"_**Just call me… Spawn."**_ The newly dubbed "Spawn" stated before walking into the Dark-Corridor, followed by Ansem and Aqua…

--

(??)

In a strange place deep within the realm of darkness lays a world, truly ironically, one of pure light. Within this world lay a massive structure made from glowing crystals, deep within the structure lays several thrones, each shaped like a cross. Upon each throne sits a white being with silver armor and gold Soulless Crests…

"Inquisitor how goes the research into a faster method of producing more Soulless?" One of the Soulless, this one seated upon the highest throne, questions of a Soulless to his side.

"Milord, I'm sorry to say that my research has turned little in the way of progress… recreating the conditions to give birth to a Soulless is becoming more and more of a challenge." A fragile, ancient looking Soulless offers with a wave of one hand then rests his arms over the rests of his throne.

"I expect results, not excuses Inquisitor." The leader stated flatly while propping his head on one fist. Grunting, the aged Soulless nodded his head while the leader turned his head towards another of the white beings. "Cenobite how goes the cleansing of the Dark Worlds?" He questioned while looking to another Soulless, this one having a single billowing white wing forming from one shoulder.

"I must regretfully admit we've run into some problems, Milord. It would seem that the Dark-Key-Bearer has located one of the Keyholes and may be seeking the others on the worlds within the Dark-Realm." Cenobite replied and the leader twitched slightly before turning his head to the sole Female member of the group.

"Nephilim, it is your duty to deal with this "Seeker of Darkness" is it not?" He questioned flatly and the female nodded her head after a hesitant pause. "Then why exactly have you brought no results to me? The Seeker still lives, and he continues to gather his forces even as we speak." The leader questioned then stated while leaning towards the female who shrunk into her seat.

"F-forgive me Sire, I was… I mean I have been attempting to find a strong enough Soulless to send after him. The Juggernaught and Crusader I sent should have been more than a match for him but…" Nephilim started to say before Inquisitor leaned forward in his seat with a frown.

"You sent one of our Juggernaughts?!" He demanded and the Nephilim visibly winced as the aged Soulless shook its head. "Incompetent fool, we had only THREE of those left and you sent one to its doom!" He accused while pointing at Nephilim and the Leader raised his hand.

"Be still Inquisitor, we must remember than Nephilim is still not used to her station in The Court." The leader reminded and Inquisitor grumbled under his breath while sitting back in his seat. Turning his head once more, the leader looked to another Soulless, this one giving off a radiant light. "Saint, how goes the preparations for The Great Cleansing?" The Leader questioned of the glowing Soulless and it twitched slightly before answering him.

"All goes well milord, though sadly, with our forces so thinly spread, it'll take more time before we can reach… that particular world." Saint replied and the leader nodded his head before looking to his other side to another Soulless.

"Good. Now then, Archangel, how are our remaining forces?" The leader questioned of another Soulless, this one with four white wings forming from his shoulders as he looked up to the leader.

"Sire, I have managed to locate an army of willing Souls, they wish to cleanse their beings with light and join our cause. This would not only bolster our numbers but allow us to also send more Soulless to the other members of the Court." Archangel replied and the Leader nodded his head slowly before lacing his fingers together.

"Excellent. At least one of you shows he's competent in his duties." The leader commented, all the other Soulless flinching as Archangel crosses his arms over his chest and sits higher in his throne. "You should all learn from Archangel, he shows the true merits of a Member of our Court. Unlike the wretched Heartless, we do not fight for the sake of fighting… We seek to protect the Heartland, the realm of light, from these Dark-Monsters. Never forget, our crusade is a noble one, and we shall be seen as heroes for our sacrifices! The realm of Darkness, shall fall at our feet and Kingdom Hearts shall be reclaimed in the name of the Light!" The leader reminds and gains here here's from the other Soulless around him, then leaned back into his throne.

"Now then, Paladins, bring in the new Soulless." The leader suddenly ordered and immediately two strange Soulless with metal crests and one wing walked into the room, each one clutching a spear in hand, while their other hand was wrapped over a strange figure. Stopping at a distance to their leader, The Paladins tossed the white figure forward before kneeling down behind it. The white figure slithered up onto its hands and knees, then looked up to The Court as they looked down on him.

The figure was what "The Court" knew as a "Pure-Soulless" being without any alterations to his soul or form. It was in the shape of a humanoid creature with pitch black holes for eyes, its body unnaturally thin and devoid of all defining features. "Such a sorry state he finds himself in." Inquisitor noted while rubbing his chin and Archangel nodded his head in agreement with the aged Soulless.

"Regardless, it's not everyday a Soul of Darkness is cleansed by the Light…" The Leader commented flatly before standing up, then spread six billowing white wings, four on his back and two arching off of his forearms… Floating from his throne to the ground, The Leader placed his feet to the ground before walking over to the Pure-Soulless. "A Soul of Darkness… purified by Light. Cleansed of his evil ways and the sins of his past." The Leader noted while looking down at the Pure Soulless impassively, then held out a hand. Instantly a sword with arching flames for a blade formed before him and he took hold of its hilt.

"Take this weapon, and I shall give your new name as a member of our court, Uchiha Sasuke…" The Leader ordered while stabbing the fire sword into the ground, then crossed his arms. The Pure-Soulless looked to the sword for a moment, then back to The Leader before slowly reaching out his hands and taking hold of the Swords hilt. Instantly, flames trailed from the blade, over his arms and to his back where a pair of massive white wings suddenly stretched out, his body taking a more muscular build.

"Yes. Now you are one of us…" The Leader stated while placing one hand onto The Pure-Soulless face, a golden Cross forming over his face as Gold and silver battle-armor formed over the rest of his body. Kneeling before The Leader, the new Soulless panted while his hands were still clasped over the sword, wings folding on his back as he looked up to The Leader. "Yes. I Seraph, Leader of the Court of Order, do hereby welcome you to our ranks. Now rise, Soulless: Redeemer!" The Leader exclaimed while spreading his arms, a golden cross with spikes atop his head now covering "The Redeemer's" face…

--

TBC…

--

AN:

Here's a list of Naruto's Keyblades thus far…

Dark-Heart: A Keyblade with the corrupting Powers of Darkness capable of creating Heartless from anyone cut by its blade. A lightweight Keyblade of the Realm of Darkness perfect for single handed use, due to its function, this weapon is useless against Heartless though is very effective against Somebodies and Soulless.

Soul-Blade: An inherently evil Keyblade with the power to devour souls. A surprisingly light keyblade well suited for singe or double-handed use, perfect for fighting Soulless or Somebodies, though it is all but useless against Heartless.

Gears of Madness: An old Keyblade that once belonged to the Apprentice of Master Xehanort. A Light weight Keyblade that unlike his other blades has the ability to destroy Heartless, though is useless against Unversed… (Changed…)

Vorpal-Key: A Keyblade forged from a shard of the Vorpal-sword, capable of cutting through anything, even a foot of solid steel. A heavy double handed Keyblade, requires two hands to use properly, useless against Heartless and Soulless, but perfect for use against Somebodies and Nobodies…


	28. The Underworld

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 27**_: _**The Underworld**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(?)

"_Master wait up!" Ventus cried as he followed after his Master Xehanort across an odd world known as the "Broken Kingdom". Panting heavily, Ventus made it to his master's side as the old man strode forward, arms crossed behind his back. "What are we looking for?" Ventus questioned and Xehanort smiled before stroking his chin slowly._

"_Information." Xehanort replied, eyes closed and Ventus gave him a sidelong glance as they traveled passed the ruins of what had once been a wall._

"_What is this world?" Ventus questioned softly and Master Xehanort looked around before sighing. The world was a barren desolate place, all of its inhabitants long since scattered to the four winds, the buildings were torn apart, the streets were cracked and covered with the blood of the cities people, and finally, in the distance, Master Xehanort saw a crumbling Castle, within which was the information he'd been seeking._

"_This, Ventus, is the remains of a forgotten world… now, not even a memory, it is fading and crumbling into dust." Master Xehanort replied softly, features falling as he saw the devastation brought to this world, his heart aching._

"_Oh… what happened to its people master?" Ventus questioned and Xehanort sighed before looking to the sky, said sky being red as blood with black clouds hovering over them…_

"_No one truly knows what became of them Ventus, this world is forgotten and forbidden even to Key-Bearers. But, I must see what they found." Master-Xehanort replied while Ventus looked all around the silent world and shivered._

"_Master, this place… makes me uneasy." Ventus said and Xehanort nodded his head silently before making his way down the street. Seeing his master leaving him, Ventus quickly followed after the old man. Trudging deeper and deeper into the city, Ventus saw more and more desolate ruins along their way to the strange floating castle._

"_So many lives lost in search of its power… but how close did they truly get?" Master-Xehanort wondered to himself while looking around, Ventus looking at him questioningly in response. Blinking, the old man gave a weak smile before patting Ventus on the head as they walked up a ramp towards the Castle Gates. "Don't worry Ventus, everything will be just fine." Master-Xehanort assured and Ventus gave a weak grin as they stopped before the entrance to the castle…_

"_I've got bad feeling about this Master." Ventus stated and Master-Xehanort gave the blond haired youth a look._

"_You're never supposed to say that Ventus, bad things always happen when you say that…" Master-Xehanort grumbled while rubbing his face and then looked down the hall and cupped his chin. Noticing the large grooves around some of the bricks in the floor, the long holes in the walls, as well as what looked like trap doors in the ceiling of the castle's entrance, Master-Xehanort nodded his head._

"_So what's the plan Master?" Ventus questioned as Xehanort turned and walked behind him. Smirking, Master-Xehanort then kicked Ventus in the back, forcing the youth into the hall and onto one of the bricks. Instantly it was depressed and several sharp blades came swinging out of the walls towards him. Yelping, Ventus rolled out of the way, causing another brick to be depressed. The ceiling above the youth suddenly creaked and then fell away, Ventus screaming and lunging out of the way as a spiked platform fell to the ground where he had been._

_Panting heavily with wide eyes Ventus rubbed his forehead while swiping some sweat from his brow, his second hand pushing down on another brick and making him pale dramatically. Looking around, Ventus saw several pipes jut out of the walls and ceiling and mentally cursed. Quickly forming his Keyblade, Ventus twisted, turned, and dodged several darts while blocking those he couldn't, all while still moving down the entrance hall. Hitting another Brick, Ventus yelled as a swinging blade on a pendulum came at him from the side._

_Rolling backwards and then standing perfectly straight, Ventus watched as two swinging blades swished in front and behind him. Quickly moving out of the way of the swinging blade behind him, Ventus placed a hand on the wall and let out a relieved sigh… only to groan as the brick in the wall was depressed. Instantly, Ventus heard a sound and then yelped as he lunged forward, evading the walls as they slammed together where he had been only moments before. Hearing another sound, Ventus looked up and lunged forward, evading the ceiling as a heavy portion of it slammed into the ground behind him._

_Panting heavily, Ventus looked all around for more traps, and then gaped as the walls opened up and two dragon statues suddenly loomed at his sides ominously. Screaming loudly, Ventus lunged out of the way as the dragons breathed fire out where he had been moments ago. Looking around once more and then breathing a sigh of relief when he found himself before another door, Ventus then turned and saw his Master whistling as he walked passed all the used traps._

"_I knew this hall looked funny." Master-Xehanort said with a nod of his head while Ventus gaped as the man walked to the door and gave him a look. "Well don't just sit their Ventus, we still have things to do." Master-Xehanort reminded and Ventus felt his eye twitch before he gritted his teeth while Master-Xehanort walked away from him with an audible chuckle._

"_MASTER!" Ventus roared while flipping back to his feet and glared at his master's back. "GET BACK HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!" Ventus roared while running after his aging master, a furious expression across his face…_

(?)

Naruto slowly uttered a low groan before sitting up and placed a hand to his head. "Oi… another weird dream." He mumbled to himself before looking around, his eyes bolting open when he couldn't see any of the others. Cursing he quickly jumped onto his feet and stopped to gape when he saw WHERE he appeared to be… The entire world around him was a vast almost endless realm of fire and brimstone, souls fell from the heavens and into molten lava and bloody streams below, statues of demons and monsters were all around, the real demons and monsters visible in the distance along with a massive statue of the God of The Underworld, Lord Hades…

"Oi shit, did I land in hell or what?" Naruto muttered to himself before turning and looking around at what he guessed was the "Underworld". "Alright… so I'm on Kratos world again. But, if that's the case why am I down here and what happened to the tournament?" Naruto wondered to himself for a moment before he decided to look around for a bit. Walking down a long winding path through the Underworld, Naruto stopped and frowned when he saw a doorway.

"Please let the other's be that way." He mumbled to himself while running down a long path, only to slow down as several shades walked passed him. Walking beside of the shades, Naruto shivered slightly before crossing his arms and journeying towards a circular area. Looking around, Naruto cursed and jumped back as black skeletal arms then reached out of the ground and pulled the Shades into the ground…

"Okay, that was freaky, and this is definitely hell…" Naruto mused to himself with a slight shiver before looking around the circular area he'd found himself in. He then noticed a snake motif to the door before him and raised a brow for a moment. However, he then heard a sound and quickly rolled out of the way of a blade that nearly cleaved him in two. Quickly turning around, the blond haired youth's eyes widened upon seeing half-dead misshapen grey skinned being crawling out of the ground, garbed only partly in armor and clothing, with massive L shaped swords.

"Holy shit…" Naruto whispered before growling and pulled his keys from his back, only to stop and place them back. "Their already dead… I can't steal their souls or turn their hearts to Heartless if their already dead!" He grumbled before reaching into his coat and pulled out the Vorpal-Key and held it in both hands, strangely enough he was clearly forming into the same stance Sora was known to use. Growling and snarling the strange misshapen creatures stalked towards the blond as he took a single step back and dug his foot into the ground… a smirk crawling onto his features as his eyes suddenly turned a familiar bright amber gold…

"Now DIE!" He roared while lunging forward and swung the Vorpal-Key, slashing straight through the first creature and cutting it, its armor, and even its weapon in half. Grinning despite himself, Naruto turned the blade in his hands and turned, blocking an attack from a different creature, which he decided to call "Ghouls", and then twisted around and cut its legs out from under it before stabbing the Vorpal-Key into its head. Ripping it out of the creature, Naruto turned as several more Ghouls started to crawl out of the ground and grinned once more.

"Come Forward, my Shade!" Naruto ordered and the form of The Shade formed up behind him, Naruto's body flowing off of the ground as he held the Vorpal-Key in hand while the Ghouls stopped, clearly wary of the blond. "Surrounded… this place is saturated in Darkness…" Naruto mumbled with a grin as wisps of black energy began to crawl off of his body. Throwing his arms to the side Naruto then crouched back, the Shade narrowing its eyes as they then launched forward. Naruto quickly swung the Vorpal-Key, slicing through several of the Ghouls while The Shade quickly grabbed then lifted some off of the ground.

"Finish them." Naruto ordered darkly, leaning the Vorpal-Key over his shoulders just as Sora would and the Shade almost looked like it was grinning. Roaring out, the Shade then raised its arms into the air before slamming both Ghouls into the ground while more started to come out of the ground around them. Among this new group was a new type of ghoul, these being female with gold armor that barely even covered them, and what looked like bombs of some kind with slingshots.

"This should be interesting…" Naruto noted mostly to himself while the Shade narrowed its eyes onto the Ghouls. Raising a brow, Naruto found himself floating into the air while the Shades arms slammed into the ground. Instantly all light around Naruto and the Shade suddenly dimmed, a grin crawling onto Naruto's features as black energy started to swirl from the Shades submerged arms.

"_**SUBMIT!"**_ The Shade cried out loudly as the energy suddenly shot up all around Naruto, impaling all of the Ghouls in one fell swoop. Whistling lightly Naruto then landed on a single spike of black energy, standing on it with one foot while his Vorpal-Key is still slung over his shoulders. Looking over the damage, Naruto then watches as the Ghouls start to vanish before The Shade removes its arms from the ground and floats back over to him.

"Not bad, though a little messy…" Naruto mused aloud only to stop and grit his teeth while clutching at his head with his free hand. "What… what's going on?" He wondered and the Shade groaned lightly as it faded back into his shadow. Groaning as well, Naruto fell to the ground, dropping the Vorpal-Key while his eyes slowly returned to their original azure hue. Looking around for a moment, Naruto then shook his head and reached out to take hold of his key once more.

"With so much raw Darkness around here… my powers must be going haywire. Not to mention my own darkness is getting stronger…" He mumbled to himself before watching as several more Shades suddenly walked passed him… Raising a brow, Naruto shivered as the specters moved on, then got back to his feet and turned to the doorway he'd seen earlier. Frowning as he looked up at it, Naruto looked around for a moment to make certain that nothing else was going to come out at him. Assure nothing was he then walked to the door and frowned when he noticed what kind it was.

The door was made oddly, it was made out of the circular walls around him, thus more than one person, or someone with superhuman strength, could possibly get the damn doors open. _'This might be a problem if I didn't have The Shade.'_ Naruto mused before closing his eyes and calling forth the creature from his Darkness. Instantly, the Shade's arms shot from behind Naruto and threw the door open easily. Opening his eyes while the Shade faded away, Naruto blinked when he saw Tira sitting down before him, her back turned to him.

"Stupid Dark-Portals… first I keep passing out and being a burden to Master because of them, and now they separate me from him!" Tira grumbled out before crossing her arms with a notable pout and Naruto shook his head. _'I swear I'll never understand that girl…'_ He thought to himself before clearing his throat and the brunette turned to look at him and smiled brightly. "Master!" The brunette cried happily before lunging into a hug and wrapping most of her limbs around him, Naruto groaning lightly as she did before looking around.

"Where are the other's Tira?" Naruto questioned and the brunette frowned in thought for a few moments before answering.

"I saw Axel and Larxene on the other side of a chasm earlier master, but I haven't seen Alice anywhere." Tira reported and Naruto grimaced lightly at the admission, that meant they'd have to get to Axel and Larxene and then that they'd have to find Alice ASAP before something else did…

"Do you think you can take me to Axel, Tira?" Naruto questioned and Tira instantly nodded her head with a happy smile… "And could you also maybe let me go?" Naruto then asked with a slight twitch and Tira blinked before hopping back and off of the blond haired teen. "Good, now lead me to Axel." Naruto then ordered while rubbing his temples and Tira happily grinned with a mock salute.

"Aye aye master!" She said and turned around walking through the doorway with Naruto behind her. Looking around, Naruto frowned deeply as he wondered what kind of hellish place they'd managed to find themselves in… only for both to stop at a deep ominous voice echoing out all around them.

"**Well well well, who do we have here?"** The voice wondered and Naruto instantly recognized Hades' voice… but it sounded, off… **"The Seeker of Darkness, so nice to see you again. I hope you enjoy your stay here, after all, you're never going to be leaving!"** The voice of Hades echoed out with a sinister laugh and Naruto turned to see it seemed to be coming from the giant statue of him.

"Hades?" The blond wondered to himself, only for the voice of the ruler of the Underworld to vanish.

"Something wrong Master?" Tira questioned and Naruto frowned while crossing his arms over his chest for a moment.

"Sort of… Hades didn't sound like himself…" Naruto mumbled while turning and walking further into the Underworld, Tira following after him.

"Maybe he's had a bad day." Tira offered in her usual, at least towards him, chipper tone and Naruto frowned slightly.

"He doesn't take me as the type to turn psychotic after a bad-day, Tira." Naruto stated and a strange look crossed Tira's face as she followed behind him.

"Oh you never know Master, I once met this weird clown who used to tell me that, "All it takes is one Bad Day to drive even the sanest man alive to lunacy!" Tira offered with a wide smile and Naruto blinked before turning to the brunette with a frown.

"And you listened to the clown?" He asked and the girl grinned widely.

"Well of course! He made so much sense." Tira said with a nod of her head and Naruto frowned while looking to the girl.

"Exactly how did he make sense Tira?" Naruto asked, though he could already tell he didn't want to know the answer.

"Oh, because he always killed people who were boring of course! And he understood 'The Plan'!" Tira whispered while looking around and Naruto blinked once more while staring at his servant.

"The Plan… why does that sound so familiar?" Naruto wondered while scratching his head for a moment and Tira grinned.

"Because it's true! The Plan is where everyone acts all serious and "Normal" but in truth all they are doing is hiding what they really are behind a façade!" Tira explained and Naruto frowned as he cupped his chin for a moment, now thinking about it. What was truly scary however was that made so much sense to him… he'd seen it himself after all. He'd seen how people acted one way in public, then acted like fools in private, he'd seen quirks people were deathly afraid of showing, and that they'd even call vile and disgusting in public!

"Yeah. The Clown also explained some more to me about these "Rules" that everyone follows. According to him, everyone follows the rules to act "Normal" so no one feels like a freak. But in truth everyone is a freak or weird in some way, it's not natural to hold it in and he wants to prove it to them!" Tira continued and Naruto frowned slightly before shrugging his shoulders, it wasn't his problem after all.

"Yeah well so long as that clown never bugs me I'll leave him be… what's his name anyways Tira?" Naruto questioned of his servant and the brunette grinned widely towards her master in response.

"WELL… I don't know his real name Master. But he called himself "The Joker" back when I met him." Tira replied and Naruto and found a shiver crawl up his spine, something about that name hit a little too close to home for some reason…

"And when did you meet him exactly?" Naruto questioned and Tira frowned in thought for a moment, as if trying to remember where she met "The Joker"…

"Back when our world was destroyed… or was it consumed… or purified… or something like that by the Soulless, Master. I landed on his world and spent a few weeks with him and his girlfriend Harley Quinn!" Tira reported with a wide wicked grin and Naruto blinked before looking over at her strangely.

"So where was Nightmare when this happened?" Naruto asked and Tira slumped down while they walked further into the Underworld.

"Master you should know, you came and picked me up remember." Tira replied and Naruto cleared his throat. After so long he'd forgotten Tira thought Soul-Blade was a fragment of Soul-Edge, thus she though he was it's host and it was in control… _'Just another reason for me to keep her on a very short leash…'_ The blond haired youth thought to himself while they came to a stop at a chasm and Naruto frowned while seeing a walk way opposite them. "That's where I saw Axel and Larxie, Master!" Tira reported and Naruto blinked and stared at Tira for a moment.

"Larxie?" He demanded incredulously and Tira shrugged her shoulders.

"Larxene is just such a mouthful, Master." She explained and Naruto snickered slightly before looking around for a way over to the other side. Then narrowed his eyes when he saw a series of large chains leading over head…

"Alright Tira, I think I know how we're going to be getting over." Naruto said and the girl looked at him expectantly. However, rather than answer, Naruto wrapped an arm around Tira and then reached back and threw his "Gears of Madness" keyblade forward before jumping onto it. Shifting his weight Naruto then flew up on it and along the chain over to the other side of the chasm…

(?)

Alice is currently passed out on the ground, though she is slowly coming out of it with a low groan. Reaching a hand up to her head, the Shadowed-Princess then slowly sat up and looked around through bleary eyes. Upon seeing the terrain and world she'd found herself in, Alice gasped and covered her mouth, clearly horrified. "Oh my! What is this dreadful place?" Alice wondered while looking around herself, a man walking towards her from behind her…

"It's known as Hades, or even The Underworld." A deep menacing voice supplied and Alice shivered before turning around and then widened her eyes. What she saw is a man, his skin pale as ash, a black goatee at his chin, a red spiral tattoo covering most of his body, while dressed in red clothes, with old brown leather pteruges hanging from his waist, and golden armor, a pair of dangerous looking blades sheathed on his back. "Now then girl, who are you?" The man demanded with a sneer and Alice took a step away from him before answering.

"I-I'm Alice Pleasance Liddell…" She replied and saw the man's amber eyes narrow onto her before he turned his back to her.

"A strange name." He noted while walking away and Alice gulped while slowly following after him.

"Excuse me sir?" She asked and Kratos frowned while turning to look at her from the corner of one eye. "Y-yes… um, might I enquire as to your name?" She asked and Kratos rolled his eyes while walking deeper into the Underworld.

"Kratos." He stated simply and Alice stopped and frowned at the odd name, only to yelp and follow after the ashen skinned man.

"Yes, well then, mister Kratos would you please help me locate my friends? I seem to have been separated from them…" Alice pleaded and Kratos frowned visibly, arms crossed and a dark look in his eye.

"The search for your friends is a heavy burden that I do not want nor need to carry." He replied and Alice stopped for a moment only to shake her head and quickly rush back after him.

"Please, but if I don't find my friends I fear that they shall leave this world without me!" Alice said and Kratos rolled his eyes, clearly not interested in helping the poor little lady. "Oh my… whatever am I to do?" Alice wondered as tears started to form at the corner of her eyes while Kratos walked away from her. "I suppose I should hope that Naruto will eventually manage to find me down here but…" Alice said to herself and Kratos stopped with a frown crossing over his features for a moment.

"Naruto… as in Uzumaki Naruto?" Kratos questioned while turning towards the girl and Alice blinked in his direction.

"The very same…" She replied then wiped at her eyes and looked to see an annoyed frown cross over Kratos' features. "Do you know him as well?" Alice questioned and Kratos grunted for a moment, then stopped in front of the auburn haired girl and glared at her.

"We've met…" Kratos admitted and then drummed his fingers on his left bicep for a moment. "He was my partner in a tournament, but when we Poseidon, Zeus decided it would be better to throw me into the Underworld rather than continue the tournaments." Kratos explained and Alice blinked before gasping, as THOSE names did sound VERY familiar to her.

"Y-You killed Poseidon? God of the seas himself?" Alice questioned, awed by the accomplishment and Kratos scoffed slightly.

"He was weak." Kratos growled out and then looked at Alice with a slim frown. "I'll help you find Naruto." Kratos then stated and walked off again, Alice blinking for a moment before quickly following after him.

"Oh, thank you sir, I am most relieved to be traveling with someone who knows the 'lay of the land' as it were. I am afraid that I am personally not used to world traveling and I must admit that it is begging to appear as quite the daunting prospect and…" Alice said only for Kratos to turn and cover her mouth with one hand, a deep scowl formed across his face as he glared at her heatedly.

"Firstly girl, I am only helping you because Naruto is a worthy ally. Second, I have neither a want nor need to help you and will gladly leave you to your death if you annoy me. Finally, stop talking." Kratos growled out and then turned on his heel to walk away, Alice blinked before crossing her arms with a pout…

'_How utterly and unforgivably rude!'_ She thought to herself while following after the Ghost of Sparta regardless. _'Although, I suppose I do talk a bit too much sometimes. Really, its yet another quirk I fear I'll have to work on… hmm… what else… oh yes, the random bouts of psychotic behavior, I truly must work on those. It's not proper for a lady to go on mass killing sprees after all.'_ Alice thought to herself, unaware of the slightly demented look crossing her features as she did…

(Radiant Garden…)

Xigbar yawned as he walked behind Xehanort and smacked his lips for a moment. "So, what are we doing here again?" Xigbar wondered and Xehanort turned to look at him for a moment before turning around. Staying silent as they walked into a computer room, Xehanort made his way over to a computer. Pulling a disk from his Black-Cloak, he placed it into a slot on the computer before typing the word "Another" as the first password. Typing in six more passwords, Xehanort then retrieved the disk from the slot and turned to an open door at his side.

"I'm paying a visit to an old friend…" Xehanort replied simply and Xigbar grimaced, wondering just how far Terra and Master-Xehanort's personalities have been mixed together over the years.

"Oh is that all…" Xigbar mumbled as they walked into the Heartless Creation Chamber and stopped on a white symbol. Soon after a rectangle of light formed on the floor before a doorway suddenly opened on the ground before them, a downward ramp forming before them as well. "So that's where we're going…" Xigbar noted and Xehanort silently nodded his head, Xigbar frowning as a thought occurred to him.

"But what if somebody finds us while we're down there?" Xigbar questioned since the "Room of Repose", as they called it, was not exactly large enough, nor suitable, for a battle with those kids. Chuckling ominously, Xehanort reached a hand to the side, a black sphere of energy with wisps of Darkness rolling off of it appearing at his side, a purple version of the Gears-of-Madness S shaped charm lay within the center of the sphere as purple lightning arched over it.

"No one will make it into the room Braig… HE will make certain of that." Xehanort replied before making his way down the revealed ramp, Xigbar chuckling as he looked at the sphere of energy.

"So, you're calling in the big guns already then. This is going to be so sweet. Too bad I can't watch the fun." Xigbar mused before following after Xehanort as he wandered down the long spiral ramp behind his master. As they journeyed down the end of the first ramp, the "floor" sealed shut above them and the ramp vanished behind them. Walking down the spiral ramp took a far while, but soon enough they both came to another door and Xehanort and it quickly opened to reveal a familiar hall. Preparing to walk inside, Xigbar was stopped when Xehanort held out an arm and turned his head to him.

"You stay here, I'll visit my friend alone." Xehanort ordered and Xigbar shrugged while the man walked silently into the long hall. Reaching up, Xehanort then removed his hood, Darkness spiraling over his form to reveal his true youthful appearance. Walking to the door at the end of the hall, Xehanort waited for a moment as the door opened on its own before then walking into the room. Looking around and making his way to the throne in the center of the room, Xehanort sat down silently and looked to a familiar suit of armor as it lay in pieces before him.

"It's been a long time… my friend." Xehanort whispered while looking to the familiar armor with a soft expression forming across his features…

Meanwhile above, King-Mickey and Kairi landed on Radiant Garden, the king hopping out of the ship before helping Kairi out as well. "Welcome back to Radiant Garden Kairi." The King offered with a smile while Kairi looked around and breathed in for a moment.

"It's starting to look like how I remember it…" She admitted while gazing at the vast amount of repairs that Leon and his group had accomplished.

"Yeah, soon I bet it should be all fixed up." King-Mickey said with a smile while Kairi then grinned and ran over to Aerith when she saw her. Shaking his head, Mickey followed after Kairi before blinking in surprise when he saw Zack talking with Aerith with some Sea-Salt icecream in hand. _'He sure does look familiar…'_ Mickey thought to himself while Kairi tapped Aerith's back, the older girl turning and giving a soft smile to the younger girl.

"Kairi, it's been a while since I've seen you." Aerith stated and Kairi looked to Zack as he took a bite of his Ice-cream.

"Yeah… whose he Aerith? I don't think I've ever seen him around here before." Kairi questioned while looking at the black haired man and Aerith smiled slightly before turning to Zack.

"This is my boyfriend, Zack Fair, Zack, this is Kairi." Aerith introduced and Zack gave a grin to the girl.

"Nice to meet you." Zack offered with a slight wave then saw King-Mickey. "Well what do ya know, King-Mickey long time no see." Zack said upon seeing the mouse and Mickey frowned.

"Zack? But I though you died?" Mickey questioned of the man with a raised brow and Zack grinned nervously while looking around.

"Uh well… it's a long story." Zack offered and Mickey shrugged his shoulders, deciding it was better that he not ask what that meant. Before anymore of a conversation could begin, Leon ran towards them and slid to a halt. Behind the man, Sakura and Kakashi also slid to a halt, both gaping upon seeing King-Mickey.

"We've got a problem. Tron says someone just used Ansem's Computer to enter something called the "Room of Repose"." Leon stated and Zack raised a brow while King-Mickey frowned.

"Who was it then?" Mickey questioned and Leon scowled deeply.

"Did that giant mouse just… talk?" Sakura questioned in shock and Kakashi merely patted her head for a moment.

"Get used to this stuff Sakura, weird things are going to be common on other worlds." Kakashi advised while the other's ignored the off worlders as they focused on a slightly more important matter.

"Whoever they were, they destroyed the main security camera to the Computer. All we saw was two men in the same black-coats as Organization XIII." Leon replied and King-Mickey's frown deepened at the news.

"Right then, lets go find out what's going on then." Mickey agreed before rushing towards the castle, soon followed by Kairi, Leon, Zack and Aerith. Looking to one another, Sakura and Kakashi then followed after the Mouse and his group, none of them aware of the new danger lurking within the castle.

(Underworld…)

"Why is it we always seem to end up stuck together?" Axel wondered to himself while walking with Larxene, the said blond slapping him upside the head as he did. "Shit… what was that for?" Axel demanded of the woman and Larxene glared at him with a deep scowl across her face.

"You act like it's oh so bad to be around me, that's why." She stated before walking away from the red head and Axel grunted before forming his Chakrams… he could probably kill her with one swing if he timed it right… Growling he then put them away and crossed his arms with a deep scowl on his face. It wasn't worth the hell he'd probably get from Naruto, and especially from Tira since she liked Larxene. Following behind Larxene, Axel suddenly noticed something as they walked through a strange doorway they came into a massive room with a large man sitting with his back to them.

"What the…" Axel mumbled while the being turned towards them and both Axel and Larxene grimaced. The man was at the very least four times their own height, if not bigger, and highly muscular with deeply tanned rough skin, he also has long balding brown hair with a brown bead on his lower jaw, however one of his eyes is messed up, as was one side of his face entirely.

"What have we here, mortal visitors are something I've never had before…" The massive being noticed before leaning down, Larxene scowling, as he looked them both over for a moment. "Hmm… Higher Nobodies." He noticed while reaching up to fiddle with a ring he was wearing on his right hand.

"Who the hell are you body?" Larxene demanded and the giant tilted his head while looking at her for a moment.

"I am Hephaestus, God of the Forge." Hephaestus replied and Axel cursed under his breath before glaring at Larxene.

"Nice going, piss off a god why don't you!" He hissed at the blond and she glared right back at him, a deep scowl across her face.

"Yeah well how was I supposed to know he was a god?" She demanded of him furiously while Hephaestus merely watched them for a moment, then reached up and grabbed a stalactite, which he then used to carve away some grime from the ring he was wearing. As he did, Hephaestus watched the two higher-nobodies argue between one another with some small amount of amusement before sighing.

"Are you two quite done yet?" Hephaestus questioned and the two Nobodies quickly turned to look at him. "Good, cause I think we have more guests coming this way." Hephaestus noted while Naruto and Tira walked through the doorway, Hephaestus dropping the stalactite when he saw Tira. "The servant of Soul-Edge!" He said lowly and then saw Soul-Blade on Naruto's back and several gears started to turn inside his mind…

"Axel. Larxene. Have either of you seen Alice anywhere?" Naruto questioned while walking over to the two higher-Nobodies and saw them blink before Larxene cursed and started to rub her temples.

"Sadly no, guess the Dark-Corridor must've separated us from each other… oh yeah and this is Hephaestus, God of the Forge." Axel replied while motioning towards the massive giant behind him, Tira grinning as she saw him.

"Oh, its you." She said and Hephaestus winced at the look in her violet eyes. "The one who made that sword and shield for that bad mother that destroyed my master once…" Tira noted while her fingers itched to take hold of her ring-blade and Hephaestus winced while looking around. Technically, while he did make those, it was only on Zeus's orders and only because he wanted to stay in his good graces back then…

"That's enough of that Tira. We don't have time for you to hold a petty grudge." Naruto stated flatly, an annoyed look on his face, and Tira pouted while crossing her arms.

"Yes, Master." She said while Hephaestus raised a brow and then took a better look at Soul-Blade and the gears in his mind turned once more.

"Good. Now then Hephaestus, what happened to that Tournament that was being held last time I was here?" Naruto questioned of the God of the Forge and Hephaestus blinked before answering him, fiddling with the ring on his finger once again.

"Kratos decided he couldn't wait for the tournament and attacked Olympus. As a result Zeus canceled the tournament, deciding that any mortals that could defeat Kratos would be just as big a threat to him. And then he threw him down here last I heard and he's probably wandering around the depths trying to find a way back to the surface." Hephaestus explained while Naruto frowned at the news and then crossed his arms over his chest, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Looking at the blond, Hephaestus felt the gears in his mind turn yet again and fiddled with his ring absently… From what he could tell and see, that was a small version of Soul-Edge; it gave off the same power as the cursed sword, but obviously wasn't sentient and therefore couldn't control Naruto. Also, Tira seemed to have the impression it was Soul-Edge itself, thus served Naruto purely for the fact she thought he was nothing but a host for Soul-Edge…

Thankfully, Zeus had taken the precaution of dumping all the fragments of Soul-Edge into the Underworld, where Hades shoved them all to him. He had then taken the extra precaution of melting down those fragments, and then put them in a block of solid adamantine as a precaution. No one wanted Soul-Edge being reformed; neither god nor mortal wanted that cursed blade wandering around. Thus, once it was sealed into the block of adamantine, Hephaestus had thrown it into the deepest, darkest pits of Tartarus to remain for all times…

"Now then, Axel. Larxene. We need to move out and find Alice. Hopefully nothing has gotten its claws into her, but with how this place is I highly doubt she'd be able to defend herself for very long." Naruto stated and got nods of agreement from the others, also jarring Hephaestus out of his thoughts and back to the real world.

"Wait!" Hephaestus said and Naruto looked up to the giant of a man as he fiddled with the ring on his finger once more. "I would ask for you aide, Mortal. My daughter Pandora, Zeus keeps her locked away, I ask you to please free her for me." Hephaestus pleaded while moving towards them and Naruto frowned deeply.

"We don't have time to go on some epic-quest, Alice could be eaten or killed by something down here by the time we got finished." Naruto stated and Hephaestus fiddled with his ring once more while trying to think. It was probably true, and given that the blond was clearly the "Dark-Key-Bearer" that meant he'd probably be whisked away to another world before he could even reach Pandora even if he had agreed…

"Then… then could you please bring me the gold statues of my daughter around the Underworld?" Hephaestus pleaded and Naruto was about to refuse only for Axel to place a hand onto his shoulder.

"Why?" Axel questioned and Hephaestus bit his lip.

"I made them, to try and recreate my beautiful Pandora… but… but I could not, not without the Flame. But, she is still able to manifest her spirit through the statues. Bring them to me, so that I might at least see her again." Hephaestus pleaded and Axel looked to see a strange look on Larxene's face, and then ignored it while he turned around to face Naruto.

"Alright, how about you and Tira go looking for Alice while me and Larxene hunt down these statues." Axel offered the blond haired Seeker and Naruto gave Axel a look.

"Do you have any idea how long that'll take?" Naruto demanded, Hephaestus overhearing them decided maybe a little… incentive might get them to help him.

"I can offer you something if you aid me!" Hephaestus said quickly and Naruto frowned before looking up to the fallen god.

"Exactly what could you offer?" Naruto asked and Hephaestus looked around for a moment, thinking of what he could give to the blond that would even actually work off of their world…

"Anything, I'm not the… former God of the Forge for nothing. I can make you anything you want." Hephaestus replied and Naruto hummed in thought while rubbing his chin. A thought then came to the blond as he reached into his coat and pulled the charm that held Xion's memories and soul within it… _'He created his daughter… so… maybe he could make her a body.'_ Naruto thought to himself while tossing the charm into the air and then caught it before looking up to Hephaestus once more.

"Can you make a Body for this girl?" Naruto questioned while holding up the charm and Hephaestus leaned down and looked at the charm for a moment. Scrutinizing it for a few seconds he then drummed his fingers on the ground and grinned.

"Such a thing is a simple task. If even my beloved Aphrodite could even do that, it'll be but a simple task to make a body for her. The Heart on the other hand…" Hephaestus said with a nod then left hanging and Naruto ignored him, well aware of how hard it was to find or create a heart.

"Good… then that's what we want. Axel, hang onto this and bring all the statues back here. That way, you can have your friend back." Naruto stated while tossing the Last Wish over to Axel who looked at it and nodded his head. "Alright then, Tira, we're moving out to find Alice before something else does." Naruto stated and Hephaestus reached over and opened a pair of doors for the two, Naruto nodding towards the God of the Forge as he and Tira left threw it.

"Now then, where do we start?" Axel questioned and Hephaestus slammed a hand into a wall, breaking it open and leaving a doorway to the two.

"C'mon lets get this over with quickly." Larxene ordered and Axel grumbled under his breath as he followed after the blond. As they left as well Hephaestus couldn't help hoping that they would somehow manage to find the statue that his daughter could speak through…

(Castle Oblivion…)

Xine wandered deeper into the Castle, memories of his life passing before his eyes with each new room he walked into. Stopping for a moment, Xine sighed when he found yet another new card. "What is with this place?" Xine wondered as he walked to another room and held up the card, another memory suddenly blinding him before playing before his eyes…

_Xine grunted as he was easily knocked back by Master Eraqus, panting slightly, Xine pushed himself to his feet and glared towards the man. "D-dammit…" Xine gritted out, his red eyes narrowed onto Eraqus before he crouched and then lunged forward with a roar. Swinging a sword at the man he watched as Eraqus evaded the swing before landing a punch to Xine's gut. Eyes going wide, Xine wrapped his arms around his waist while backing away from the man. Frowning, Master-Eraqus then lunged forward swinging his Keyblade up and knocking Xine off balance before twisting into a kick to Xine's ribs, sending him flying back into a wall._

_Sighing, Eraqus shook his head while Andross and Xehanort watched from behind him. "We should stop this… Xine's already lost be he's too stubborn to admit it." Andross stated and Xehanort was silent as he watched Xine push himself back up, sweating and panting before gritting his teeth._

"_Dammit… why… why can't I touch you?" Xine growled out while looking up towards Master-Eraqus, the Keyblade-Master merely closing his eyes._

"_Your heart sways too easily. An unstable warrior like you could never wield the Keyblade." Master-Eraqus stated and Xine gritted his teeth, narrowing his red eyes Xine lunged at Eraqus once more. However he changed tactics, pulling apart his sword to form two short single edged blades he swung at Eraqus once more. The Keyblade-Master merely backed away from the swing with a frown as Xine continued to lash out with his blades, only for Eraqus to slam his fist into his gut once more. Backing up with wide eyes again, Xine was then pushed to the ground as Eraqus placed his foot onto his chest and pointed his keyblade towards Xine's face._

"_You're not meant to wield the Keyblade, you should leave this place." Eraqus stated while Xine's eyes turned Golden-Amber as he gritted his teeth in rage._

"_Don't tell me what to do!" Xine roared and swung his sword up, the blade suddenly growing in length. Seeing this, Eraqus quickly backed away from Xine quickly and took a stance. "Now I'll show you what I can really do… and that you should never underestimate me!" Xine growled out at the Master angrily as dark wisps started to form off of his body. Andross looked to Xine in shock while Master-Xehanort rubbed his chin for a moment, Master-Eraqus on the other hand narrowed his eyes on the youthful warrior._

"_So, now your heart shows its true allegiance." Eraqus mused as Xine reared his sword back before thrusting it forward. The blade of his weapon came shooting forward, lengthening once more as Eraqus dodged out of the way. Growling low in his throat, Xine pulled the blade back to him as Eraqus lunged forward. Smirking despite himself, Xine formed a shield from his sword and held it up, blocking a surprised Eraqus before pushing him back. Lunging forward, Xine then formed his Shield into an Ax before swinging it at Eraqus._

_Frowning, Eraqus moved back to evade the swing before lashing out with another swing. Gritting his teeth, Xine, formed a gauntlet from the Ax and used that to block Eraqus before suddenly grinning. Backing up Xine then slammed his arm into the ground, his gauntlet thinning as the metal started shooting out of the ground like spikes around Eraqus. The spikes then shot inwards at Master-Eraqus, the aging Keyblade master quickly jumping out of the prison before throwing his Keyblade, nailing Xine in the head and knocking him to the ground._

"_Xine!" Andross called out while rushing over to his friends side, Eraqus frowning as he looked down at the warrior. Helping Xine sit up, Andross widened his eyes upon seeing a pair of amber-gold eyes looking hatefully towards Eraqus for a moment, before closing as Xine's head fell back his eyes returning to their original blood red color as he clung onto consciousness._

"_His heart is too weak, it sways too Darkness too easily…" Eraqus stated while turning his back to Xine. "Andross, if you really wish to study the knowledge of the light, Master-Xehanort can lead you to the library… but your friend is not worthy to wield a Keyblade as he is now." Eraqus offered before wandering away, giving a look to Master-Xehanort as he passed him and went deeper into the castle. At these words, Xine felt his hands clench before his eyes closed and he fell into the grip of unconsciousness and static filled his vision…_

Groaning, Xine fell into the next room while placing a hand to his head. "Ugh… did that really happen? And who's this, "Andross" guy supposed to be?" Xine wondered to himself before shaking his head and found another card on the ground. Picking it up, he slowly got back to his feet while steadying his movements. Walking over to another door, Xine bit his lip lightly before holding it up, the door opening with a bright flash of light as he did…

_Xine sat on a pedestal outside of the Castle of the Land of Departure, his eyes focused on the moon in the distance. "So, how you holding up?" Andross questioned while walking to his friend and sitting down beside him._

"_Stupid KeyBlade-Master… I would've beat him if it'd been a fair fight." Xine grumbled out under his breath and Andross pat his friend on the back before handing him a bar of sea-salt ice-cream. "Thanks…" Xine mumbled quietly while taking the ice-cream then munched on it while Andross did the same at his side. "How's your research going Andross? Find what you're looking for?" Xine questioned and Andross was silent for a moment before answering._

"_I believe I've found some of what I'm seeking… but I still need more time before I can make any real conclusions." Andross replied while taking another bite of his sea-salt Ice-cream and chuckled. "Besides, the Keyblade is a weapon of light. If light can be channeld into a weapon, surely I'll be able to channel it for…" Andross started to say before shutting up as Master-Xehanort approached them._

"_Ah, so here's where you two went. I've been worried Xine, you left in such a rush I'd almost assumed you were going to try and get off world without me." Master-Xehanort noted as he walked over to the youth and Xine scoffed._

"_No Keyblade, even If I wanted two I couldn't get off this damn world…" Xine replied and Andross elbowed his friend in the ribs with a frown._

"_I thought I told you to be nice…" Andross reprimanded and Xine merely mocked him for a moment before giving a look to Master-Xehanort._

"_So what do you want you old fossil? In case you haven't noticed, I'm trying to enjoy the scenery." Xine questioned and Master-Xehanort reached behind his back before pulling out a broadsword with a black blade._

"_During your battle with Eraqus, I saw great potential in you. Perhaps not for a wielding a Keyblade, but to use this weapon and make it your own. Take this sword in hand Xine, use it as you would, and remember that all a Keyblade is is a weapon, a tool for a warrior, and that you can surpass any warrior with enough determination and skill." Master-Xehanort offered while stabbing the sword into the ground._

"_All I saw was Darkness trying to consume my friend." Andross stated angrily and Master-Xehanort gave the man a glance before turning back to Xine._

"_Perhaps that is what you saw Andross, but what about you Xine… what was it like?" Master-Xehanort questioned and Xine was silent for a moment before closing his eyes as he struggled for a way to explain it._

"_It's… hard to say. I can't really remember much of what happened to me when the Darkness took over… just… just a lot of anger." Xine admitted and Master-Xehanort nodded his head before turning his back._

"_Only one who can temper his heart to Darkness can use it without ill effect… perhaps with time, you could be such a person. And when you do, you'll realize that a Keyblade is still only a weapon, and that neither light nor Darkness truly matter." Master-Xehanort the mused aloud to himself and Andross scowled deeply._

"_No way!" He stated while getting back to his feet, Xehanort turning his head to look at the young man. "Xine would never join with Darkness, it stole my home from me and it's done nothing but destroy whatever its come in contact with! Xine protects people he doesn't destroy them." Andross stated angrily and Master-Xehanort chuckled lightly for a moment while stroking his goatee._

"_So you say…" He said to himself before turning around to face the young man. Andross was a tall, pale young man with long ivory white hair in a ponytail at the back of his head with his bangs framing his face, a trim goatee on the end of his chin with ice blue eyes glaring at Master-Xehanort. He was dressed in a pair of white pants with black silver lined knee length boots, a white long-sleeved shirt with "Silver-White" leather armor formed over it like a vest, over top this he wore a long white coat with black lining and a high collar. Chuckling at the "Black and White" ensemble, Xehanort turned his back to Andross once more._

"_But you must also remember Andross, that no one truly knows what the future will bring…" Master-Xehanort added in ominously while Xine looks over to Andross as he scowled then crossed his arms over his chest, ice blue eyes narrowed on Xehanort…_

Gritting his teeth, Xine fell to the floor within the doorway, hands on his head as the memories played before his eyes. "Shit… what's going on around here?" Xine wondered to himself while looking to the floor.

"Obviously the chains of memories in your heart are forming back together." A voice commented and Xine turned quickly and narrowed his eyes upon seeing a figure dressed in a brown cloak with X shaped straps over his torso.

"Who are you?" Xine demanded while forming his Soul-Eater before himself, the heartless that Axel had freed merely walking over to him.

"Do you remember nothing then? Problematic, though I suppose that I should've expected as much from you." The Heartless noted to itself before raising its arms and reaching into its hood to rub its chin.

"Hey, I asked you a question buddy. So be a good boy and tell me just who the hell are you?" Xine demanded of the Heartless and it chuckled lightly for a moment before waving one of its robed arms.

"Honestly Xine, you can't even remember me? That's so… typical of you humans. You gain a little power and forget all about your old friends." The Heartless mused aloud while Xine raised a brow towards the Heartless.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Xine questioned of the Heartless and it held its hand to the side, a Card held within it.

"It means, if you want to know, find me." The Heartless replied before throwing the card to Xine. Chuckling lightly, the Heartless then backed up into a Dark-Corridor while Xine looked to the card, what looked like a picture of Radiant Garden formed onto its face…

"Yeah, I think I will." Xine said to himself while turning and opening the next door, looking around in surprise when he found himself in a completely white hallway. Looking forward to a staircase, Xine walked forward and then up before pushing open another set of doors…

(Underworld…)

Naruto and Tira were wandering deeper and deeper into the Underworld, and still they hadn't seen much save the off couple of undead and monsters. Those of course they destroyed, but even then this place was practically empty of anything. "Master, where do you think Alice is?" Tira wondered and Naruto frowned while crossing his arms over his chest, eyes closed.

"She could be anywhere Tira. So we'll just have to keep our eyes open and hope we can find her." Naruto stated simply and Tira hummed before stretching out her limbs as they wandered deeper and deeper into the Underworld. However they soon entered into an open area and Naruto grunted as a red field of some kind suddenly rose up between them and freedom. "Shit… this can't be good." Naruto mumbled and pulled the Vorpal-Key back out as several Ghouls started to crawl out of the ground, Tira grinning insanely as she saw them.

"Oh goody, victims!" She said cheerfully before lunging at the ghouls with a swing of her ring-blade. Rolling his eyes at the girl's overenthusiastic attack, Naruto crouched down before lunging forward, slashing with the Vorpal-Key and tearing several of the creatures apart. Twirling the blade around in hand, Naruto then stabbed backwards and twisted the key in the gut of another Ghoul before swinging the weapon with both arms, cutting several more Ghouls in half.

"He he… Toys are most beautiful, right before they break!" Tira suddenly noted with a grin and then blinked as several more Ghouls started to rise out of the ground. "Lets play!" She said happily while lunging forward, rolling out of the way of a bomb and then lunged forward, swinging her ring-blade upwards and cutting the Ghoul in half. The girl then turned on her heel, bring her weapon around in a swing she sliced several more Ghouls in half while then twirling around, pirouetting in place and slicing several of the Ghouls into pieces.

However, as the two continue to tear into the Ghouls, several more bomb Ghouls start to set them up to the side. Setting them up at weak points around the cave, the Ghouls then light the bombs and lunge into the fray once more. Naruto notices the bombs as he cuts down another Ghoul and then curses as they are set off, knocking both him and Tira off of their feet. Naruto lands to the side only to curse as the floor gives way and he slides down into the darkness below. Groaning, Tira turns to see this and her eyes bolt wide open.

"Master!" She said while rushing towards the hole, only to slide to a halt when she saw how deep it was. Twitching, the girl's posture suddenly changed, her eyes twitched and she turned towards the remaining ghouls with hunched shoulders and posture. "I'm going to make you all suffer!" Tira hissed before lunging forward with a roar slashing out with her ring-blade wildly, uncaring of the wounds she was inflicting upon herself by doing so… just so long as these Ghouls stayed dead, she really didn't care how hurt she became…

Meanwhile at the bottom of the hole, Naruto groaned before sitting up and looked up with a grimace. "Great… now I'm stuck at the bottom of a hole… just my luck." He mumbled before getting back to his feet and looked around. "Well, I should probably keep looking for Alice, not to mention Tira." He mumbled before walking forward, into the depths of the Underworld. However, as he walked through a doorway, Hades laughter suddenly echoed out all around him.

"**Now then mortal, its time for you to know true fear!"** Hades uttered darkly while Naruto looked all around himself and found himself in some kind of an arena, the entire thing formed a massive circular field, an enormous statue of Hades in the back of the arena, a spinning white seal slowly rotating above him. Looking around, Naruto then dropped into a crouch as legions of Ghouls started to crawl out of the ground. **"I will make you suffer for aiding that fiend Kratos!"** The God of The Underworld uttered from what seemed like everywhere, the blond haired Seeker frowning as he looked at the numerous Undead.

"From what I remember Hades, that didn't really matter to you before!" Naruto called out and heard a malevolent laugh echo all around him.

"**Too true, I don't know what foolishness got into me… but all I know now is hatred, hatred for you and Kratos for what you've done!"** Hades roared out as the state of him in the back caught on fire and the Undead lunged at Naruto who quickly pulled out the Vorpal-Key and narrowed his eyes. _'All I know now is hatred… Hades… could it be he's somehow been possessed by Hatred?'_ Naruto wondered to himself while the Ghouls came at him swinging their swords. Growling, Naruto lunged forward, swinging the Vorpal-Key and slicing several of the Ghouls asunder while more rose up.

Sliding to a halt, Naruto reached into his coat and took hold of the red gem given to him in Silent-Hill. "Well… might as well find out what you do now." Naruto mumbled while throwing the gem into the air, twisted on his heel and shot a beam of energy from his Vorpal-Key and into the gem. "SUMMON!" He cried out and the gem exploded in a flash of light, knocking Naruto back. Looking around, Naruto noticed a strange mist start to roll in while a loud air-raid-siren started to blare out loudly. Looking around when he heard several thumps, Naruto then saw Pyramid head and cursed as the beast swung its Great-Knife, tearing through several of the Ghouls.

Rolling to the side, Naruto then watched as Red-Pyramid came from nearby, a spear held in its hand as it rushed forward with surprising speed. Red-Pyramid then stabbed its spear through four Ghouls, impaling them before lifting the spear up and then threw it once more, impaling a final Ghoul as it did. Moaning and groaning as he struggled with his helmet, Red-Pyramid then turned towards where some female Ghouls were starting to rise. Twitching and jerking before suddenly grabbing two of the Female Ghouls and dragged them off to the side…

'_I really don't want to know what he's going to do to a female ghouls…'_ Naruto thought with a shiver while Pyramid head, twisted on one of his massive trunk like feet and swung his Great-Knife once more, ripping open several more Ghouls before turning on its heel again and slicing off the heads of another batch. Several Ghouls then tried to blind side Pyramid-Head from behind, only for the monster to groan out and fall back, crushing them under his own weight. Once it was over another siren blared out and Pyramid-Head began fading away, and upon checking Naruto also saw that Red-Pyramid was gone as well, the mists fading back with Pyramid-Head and Red-Pyramid.

However, Red-Pyramid had somehow pinned one of the Female-Ghouls onto a wall and then visibly gutted her. The other, seemed to have had its neck snapped and twisted around towards its back, with its legs splayed out for one reason or another… _'Okay… that thing has some serious issues it needs to work out.'_ Naruto thought to himself before turning around and lunging at the last few Ghouls, quickly swinging the Vorpal-Key, slicing them open and then landing in a low crouch as he looked around to make sure no more were going to rise out of the ground.

"**Impressive."** Hades noted, though a mocking chuckle echoed as he did. **"However that was but a taste of the torment you and your allies will suffer!"** Hades then uttered sinisterly while the white seal above the arena started to spin around faster and faster, three glowing spheres forming on it… **"Now you shall face true Darkness!"** The voice of Hades echoed once more as Naruto took a quick step back as a beam of light shot down from the center of the seal and slammed into the ground. Sparks of light flowed from it while Naruto narrowed his eyes and took a stance with the Vorpal-Key before a figure finally appeared…

The man was knelt down, his back turned to Naruto, and however his long silver hair was plainly visible. The man then slowly stood up and Naruto shivered as he looked towards him, a feeling of dread welling within him. Reaching in with one arm, the man then threw it outwards, a single black-feathered angel wing stretching from his right shoulder. As the man turned around, Naruto found his body shaking before he shook his head and grit his teeth while looking at the man.

He was tall and had a defined muscular build, he was also six feet tall at the very least; he had exceptionally long silver hair that was parted at his forehead to frame his face, his skin was disturbingly pale, and last he has a pair of demonic green eyes with slits for pupils, the large black angel wing on his right shoulder, and two more wings positioned between his coat and legs.

He is dressed in a pair of black leather pants, two belts were worn around his waist, a pair of knee high black combat boots worn over them with two noticeable bands holding them on tightly, his hands are covered in a pair of black gloves, and a long black coat covers most of his form with odd metal clasps over his wrists and red and black vestigial wings on his forearms, the edges of the coat formed like a bats wings, a red portion of it on the front, while two straps formed an X over his chest with metal pauldrons placed over his shoulders, a ridiculously long sword held at his hip.

Smirking, as he looked at Naruto, the man slowly reached to his hip and crouched down into a stance. Seeing this, Naruto took a stance as well, eyes narrowed onto the strange man dangerously. "Show me…" The man whispered while crouching lower for a brief moment, then launched forward. "Show me your power…" He stated while swinging his sword, Naruto blocking at the last second, his eyes wide as he's pushed back by the force of the man's swing. Cursing, Naruto then rolled out of the way as the man vanished and reappeared in a flash, swinging his blade and nearly taking his head off.

"Show me… your darkness." The man uttered sinisterly while Naruto came out of his roll and narrowed his eyes. Quickly putting the Vorpal-Key, Naruto reached back and pulled Dark-Heart and Soul-Blade free before taking a stance with them. Seeing this, the strange One-Winged-Angel merely chuckled before taking a lazy stance, hand poised to take hold of his sword's hilt while Naruto growled low in his throat then lunged forward with a roar, the man vanishing in a burst of feathers as Naruto tried to swipe into him…

(?)

A pair of Soulless march down a long hall when a figure peers out from behind a corner. Looking around, the figure quickly moves down the hall before ducking to the side and flipping out a window. Another Soulless walks by, not noticing the fingers in the windowsill as it passes by. The figure looks down for a moment, considering that as an escape route before shaking his head. Looking to the side, the figure nodded his head seeing several handholds. Inching his way to the side, the figure then scaled the side of an enormous castle, silver, gold, crystal, and white marble dominating its construction.

Pulling himself to look around when he made it to one of the battlements, the figure pulled himself and on top of it. Crouching down, the figure slowly made his way forward before looking out over the area. Noting the guards, the figure looked to his left arm and made a slight motion with his hand. Instantly a blade shot out and he quietly checked it before nodding his head as it vanished with an audible shunkt. Crawling over the battlements, the figure dropped down to another handhold before falling to the ground along the wall of the strange fortress.

Seeing a Paladin Class Soulless up ahead, the figure silently walked towards it before placing a hand over where it's mouth would be and using the blade under his left wrist to stab it in the neck. The paladin could only gurgle its final scream as the figure knelt down and laid it on the ground. It's body fading into nothingness the figure made his way across the wall before flipping over to the side. Using a line of handholds down the side of the wall, the figure stopped at a window as a Soulless looked outside. The Soulless remained unmoving for a moment before returning into the strange fortress.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the figure climbed down the length of the wall and made a light plop on the ground. Looking around, the figure ran away from the fortress, flipped over a fallen tree made of ivory stone, the figure landed in a crouch before turning his head to look at the Fortress. Watching it for a few moments to ensure no one noticed his escape, the figure rushed down the street away from the fortress and into a strange forest made of crystal, a moon of ivory stone shaped like a heart above the world, its light creating rainbows of color to form between each crystalline tree.

Sliding to a stop before an odd river of silver, the strange figure sat down and placed his hands into his head. "Man… what the hell is this place?" He wondered, and then looked around, surprised by the sound of his voice after so long of being silent. Shaking his head, the figure then looked at himself in the pool of silver "water" that ran the length of the river. Looking at himself, the figure reached a hand up and touched the "Mask" that covered his features

His athletically muscled body was completely covered in black, with a silver Soulless Crest bolted over his chest, his mask was also black with a Silver "Thieves' Cross" that was basically just a Y in shape bolted to his mask, a white shroud is thrown over his shoulders with a hood over his head with a silver cross as a broach, a bandoleer over his torso with pouches over it and a white shoulder guard on his left shoulder, an obsidian blue glass bladed "Ninjatou" on his back, ribbed silver armor over his waist that formed into his Soulless crest, a white loose belt around his waist with more pouches and a silver cross as his buckle, several throwing knives sheathed into it, silver Cross Moline's on his thighs like with most Soulless, segmented silver bands were formed around each of his shins, with segmented silver bands around his wrists and forearms as well with a silver Cross also placed on the underside of each arm… (Soulless: Infidel…)

"Man, I can barely tell its me now…" The Infidel said to himself while placing a hand onto his masked face. Hearing a crunch, the figure twitched his hands, a pair of blades shooting out of the crosses on his underarms silently. Quickly turning he stopped when he saw Angela standing there, arms crossed over her chest.

"Hmm… your just like him… though given what you've just been through, I shouldn't be so surprised that you'd attack someone who came up behind you." She noted mostly to herself and the Soulless tilted its head, his blades sliding back into the crosses on his underarms.

"I know that voice…" He whispered for a moment while Angela gave him a look, only her body-language spoke of the worry she was feeling however.

"I go to all the trouble to find you and all you can say is that? Do you have any idea just how many worlds and Heartless I've looked over to find you? And now I find out your not only NOT a Heartless, which is surprising, but on this world…" She asked him incredulously, only for him to lunge forward and wrap his arms around her.

"Kara-Chan, you really shouldn't worry yourself like that. It's not good for your skin." The Infidel quipped and she "Blinked" below her "Mask" while he lifted her into the air. "Of course, I knew it was you!" He exclaimed loudly with a laugh while she seemed to give him a look as he spun her around. "You have no idea just how happy I am to see you right now! I thought I'd lost everyone for a while there…" The Infidel admitted softly while holding the female Soulless close to himself. Instantly she wrapped her own arms around him and nuzzled her cheek into the nape of his neck.

"You won't loose me… our very hearts and souls are intertwined." Angela reminded the Infidel quietly and he chuckled softly.

"I wonder… is that why we're both like this now? Instead of being Heartless or Nobodies?" He questioned as he looked to the crest worn on their bodies and Angela shook her head.

"I don't know… I just woke up like this and all I knew was that I had to find you." She admitted and the Infidel chuckled once more before both looked to the silver river for a moment.

"We look like Angels from Hell…" He whispered and Angela looked to the silver water as her wing wrapped around their bodies… one thing Angela would never admit to, was that she enjoyed the feeling, and she was certain that the Infidel did as well…

"Or Demons from Heaven…" She suddenly said as she saw their forms and both turned back to one another a second later.

"Good thing I never put too much stock into appearances, ne?" The Infidel offered and Angela nodded her head before reaching down and holding up a familiar skull shaped mask. "Well what do you know, I guess something else from our world did survive." The Infidel mused aloud while taking the mask from Angela and then started looking at it for a moment.

"I found it on a world where a little girl was tormented by the people of her home town…" Angela admitted and the Infidel was silent as he turned to look towards her unblinkingly. "She was born with special powers. Many treated her like a monster, others like a saint, but… those that thought of her like a saint tried to use her to give birth to their "God"… her own mother was one of them, and she burned her daughter alive and forced her to stay alive in order to give birth to their god." Angela explained and the Infidel quietly placed the mask onto his belt.

"Kara-Chan, lets go, this world of light isn't meant for likes of us." The Infidel stated and Angela looked up at him and nodded her head.

"Oh. I forgot to mention, I met someone just like you on that world besides that girl." She then offered the other "Black-Soulless" and the Infidel tilted his head to one side, one of the arms of the Thieves' Cross on his mask tilting slightly upwards as he did.

"Really?" He asked skeptically and she chuckled.

"Hard-headed, reckless, and has a heart covered by Darkness… yet he still holds onto his one last bit of light. Oh yeah, and he's got the type of personality that grows on you… kind of like a fungus, but one you don't want to get rid of." She explained with a slight lilt of amusement in her tone and the Infidel hummed for a moment before chuckling lightly under his breath.

"Well, who was this guy? And, do I have to kick his ass or not?" The Infidel questioned of Angela and could feel the amusement coming from the girl.

"His name, is Uzumaki Naruto, former Shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, and now the Red-Seeker of Darkness…" Angela admitted and the Infidel was silent for a moment before laughing outright and shaking his head.

"Oh really? Well, then why don't we pay the kid a little visit, and say hi!" The Infidel offered and Angela gave him a look while removing her arms from his neck.

"And what pray tell will you call yourself when you meet him? Seeing as you're real name is a bit… unavailable at the moment." Angeal questioned of the Infidel and he took a mock thoughtful expression before nodding his head.

"I personally think that Zero has a rather nice ring to it." The newly dubbed Zero mused aloud and Angela rolled her eyes before wrapping an arm around one of his.

"Zero, why that name?" She asked and Zero leaned his head onto her own.

"Well… you can probably blame Giz for that, Kara-Chan." He replied softly before a familiar black bird made of energy encased the two Black-Soulless and shot out into the distant skies…

TBC…

AN: Yo, long time no see. Sorry for the delay but between work, and my other stories I sometimes find it hard to update consistently… not to mention I've gotten several new games recently for my PSP. MGS: Peace Walker, Little Big Planet, Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, and Monster-Hunter: Freedom Unite… Yeah, those have kept me busy, but on the bright side, now I'll know a little more about Castlevania, and if I don't use it in this story… well… I could always try using it in another Crossover! Anyways, ciao my readers and reviewers!

Here's a list of Naruto's Keyblades thus far…

Dark-Heart: A Keyblade with the corrupting Powers of Darkness capable of creating Heartless from anyone cut by its blade. A lightweight Keyblade of the Realm of Darkness perfect for single handed use, due to its function, this weapon is useless against Heartless though is very effective against Somebodies and Soulless.

Soul-Blade: An inherently evil Keyblade with the power to devour souls. A surprisingly light keyblade well suited for singe or double-handed use, perfect for fighting Soulless or Somebodies, though it is all but useless against Heartless.

Gears of Madness: An old Keyblade that once belonged to the Apprentice of Master Xehanort. A Light weight Keyblade that unlike his other blades has the ability to destroy Heartless, though is useless against Unversed… (Changed…)

Vorpal-Key: A Keyblade forged from a shard of the Vorpal-sword, capable of cutting through anything, even a foot of solid steel. A heavy double handed Keyblade, requires two hands to use properly, useless against Heartless and Soulless, but perfect for use against Somebodies and Nobodies…


	29. One Winged Angel

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 28**_: _**One-Winged-Angel**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(Radiant Garden…)

King-Mickey, Kairi, and the others all rushed down into the castle of Radiant Garden and soon came to the computer room. Sliding to a halt, Leon rushed over to the computer and quickly inputted a command. "Tron, can you tell me if our guests are still down there?" Leon questioned while typing on the computer then watched as an Icon flashed on the screen for a moment…

_[I'm sorry to report that none of the sensors down there are presently operational, however, I am detecting an anomaly just above the Room of Repose.]_ Tron responded over a speaker and Leon scowled slightly before trying to bring up a camera, only to scowl at a scene of static. _[I must also add that the intruders also destroyed my cameras so seeing what it is that's over the room is presently impossible without going directly to it.]_ Tron added and Leon grunted for a moment before rubbing his chin while Sakura and Kakashi entered, Kakashi whistling as he saw the computer.

"Wow… that's at least a century more advanced than anything back home…" He noted with Sakura nodding her head dumbly while staring at all the machinery around them.

"While that's interesting to know it's not helpful." Leon grumbled while giving Sakura and Kakashi a look, and then turned to King-Mickey. "So what do you think we should do your majesty?" He questioned and Mickey frowned visibly, something about this truly didn't feel right… but he couldn't just leave it be…

"We go investigate what's going on at the door of course." King-Mickey replied and Leon hummed for a moment while looking at the computer.

"You guys go on and do that, I'll monitor the situation from here." Leon stated while tunring a chair and sat down before the computer. "If things look like their getting dicey, I'll intervene. I'll also keep Sakura and Kakashi back here seeing as they can't fight Heartless or the like currently…" Leon then added and King-Mickey nodded his head before running through the doorway to the "Heartless-Generator" as Sora once called it. Kairi quickly followed after the mouse and Zack sighed before looking to Aerith.

"Would you please stay here?" He asked and saw a look cross the girl's face that he was intimately familiar with. "Please… I've… got a real bad feeling about this." Zack pleaded and Aerith's eyes softened before the girl sighed and gave him a small smile.

"Alright, but only cause you asked so nicely." She replied before hugging him and whispering a 'be safe' to him. Grinning, Zack gave a mock salute and then turned on his heel and ran after King-Mickey and Kairi. Running into the room, Zack noticed that Mickey was looking to a strange sphere of dark energy and slid to a halt. However, as soon as he saw the sphere it suddenly dissipated and seemed to spread all around the room, an uneasy feeling filling Mickey as it did.

"Wait… something doesn't feel right." Mickey stated while Kairi and Zack looked around for a moment and then to the king.

"I don't see anything your majesty." Kairi noted and King-Mickey narrowed his eyes as black wisps started to swirl all around in the air.

"She just had to say something didn't she…" Zack mumbled while taking a stance and narrowing his eyes as a bad feeling started to form. Forming Darkside Mickey then watched as a black sphere formed before them, Kairi calling her own keyblade while the black began to dissipate slowly. As the black energy peeled away, Mickey felt his unease begin to grow as a familiar form started to reveal itself behind the blackness.

"What is it?" Zack wondered as they saw a figure curled in on himself, arms wrapped over his legs with his knees up to his chin, head bowed down. However it then lowered its legs, both covered in an eerily familiar organic looking suit that was black with thick white padding over the knees, a pair of white boots with black soles and trim covering his calves down…

"I know this power…" Mickey whispered to himself as the figure then stretched out his arms, both coated in an organic looking suit, his finger black with white covering the hands up to its elbows, its biceps a grey color…

"That armor… it's like the kind that Naruto guy wore." Kairi noted as the figure kept its head bowed down, the torso of its suit black as well, only with glowing lines formed over its chest and abdominal muscles, a tattered white "Half-Skirt" with black trim hanging from a white belt with a black buckle, a pair of straps forming an X at the front to hold the skirt together, and white padding over his groin…

"If you'd all just shut up for a second… I'll tell you who I am." The dark sinister voice echoed from beyond the helmet of the figure as he touched down. A Keyblade suddenly appearing in his right hand, white and black in color, yet identical to the "Gears of Madness" Keyblade held by Naruto…

"That voice…" Kairi mumbled quietly and the figure laughed lightly while lifting his head, King-Mickey's eyes bolting open as he took a step back. What is revealed is a familiar silver chin guard that forms into something like flames and curls around the back of his head, a black glass dome covering his entire face while a strange white symbol is present over the front of the helm.

"Well well well, long time no see, Mickey." The figure said mockingly, and then took a stance with his Keyblade, the key held up and to the side with his right arm, with his left arm outstretched. "And as for my name…" The figure said darkly while crouching back slightly, Mickey growling as he did as well, Kairi and Zack following his lead. "It's Vanitas!" The white armored warrior exclaimed before lunging forward, King-Mickey lunging forward as well only to widen his eyes as Vanitas suddenly vanished into thin air.

Sliding to a halt, Mickey quickly turned in time to see Vanitas appear next to Zack and spin into a kick, knocking the man to the side then twisted around a black dome forming around him. "What the hell?" Zack demanded only for a black version of Vanitas to suddenly start leaping out of the dome straight towards him. Cursing, Zack rolled out of the way only for three more to lunge out of the sphere towards him, Kairi, and King-Mickey.

"No time for talk, dodge them!" Mickey cried out while rolling out of the way of a clone, Kairi doing the same nearby as did Zack evade the clones as they came swinging shadow versions of Vanitas key at them. Soon enough however, the field suddenly fell away, Vanitas chuckling as he stood up and took a ready stance. Moving quickly, the white-seeker then lunged forward, energy enhancing his thrust while heading towards Mickey. Moving to the side to evade the attack, Mickey landed and frowned when he noticed Vanitas attack was almost identical to Sora's "Sonic-Blade" attack…

However his thoughts were halted as Vanitas quickly turned around and swung his blade, a blue crescent shaped blade of energy flying straight towards him. However, Kairi quickly formed a reflect spell over Mickey to block the attack and the king lunged forward at Vanitas once it dispelled. Tilting his head, Vanitas grumbled to himself as Mickey came forward, then smirked as he crouched down. Behind him, a strange jagged dark-blue creature crawled out of his shadow, and then looked around with blood red eyes before fading away.

Chuckling to himself, Vanitas then lunged to the side to evade as Mickey brought his Keyblade down where he had been. Flipping into a sideways cartwheel, Vanitas then formed a ball of ice and threw it at Kairi. The red haired girl quickly evaded the attack and then sent a fireball Vanitas way. The White-Seeker merely batted the fireball back at Kairi, the girl ducking under it while Zack came at Vanitas from before with a fist, throwing Vanitas forward. Flipping with one hand, Vanitas landed in a low crouch and swung around, throwing a burst of lightning towards Zack.

Cursing, the black haired man dodged the lightning then reached back to pull the Buster-Sword from his back and hold it at the ready. "Here I go!" He cried out while crouching down and then lunged at Vanitas with a roar. Swinging his sword Zack slashed into Vanitas repeatedly before swinging the blade a final time, sending the white seeker flying back. Scoffing, Vanitas recovered in midair and landed in a slide before crouching down and lunging into an arc. The arc seemed to create four spikes of dark-energy, the sparks of energy then shooting towards the three warriors of the light.

Ducking and dodging the attacks, the three looked towards Vanitas as he then moved a foot forward and twisted around, sending a burst of dark-energy all around his body. Blocking the attack, only King-Mickey noticed that Vanitas shadow briefly moved, a familiar dark-blue creature rising out of it only to vanish in a flash of darkness…

"No! I won't let you start it again!" King-Mickey exclaimed while lunging at the White-Seeker only for Vanitas to move and block a slash from the king. Scoffing lightly, Vanitas then threw King-Mickey back and launched towards him with a swing of his own. Moving back Mickey deftly evaded the swings from Vanitas keyblade, the Dark-Keyblade user moving with unreal speed. Sliding back King-Mickey then blocked a final slash from Vanitas and the dark wielder shook his head.

"Absolutely pathetic." He noted coldly before moving into a flip over a surprised Mickey and slashed at him from behind. King-Mickey was knocked forward by the attack only for Vanitas to kick him while he was down and then step on his back. Smirking under his mask, Vanitas then dug his heel down into King-Mickey's back and heard him groan in pain, even as another dark-blue creature formed out of his shadow before vanishing in a flash of darkness.

"Honestly, is this really the best you can do after Twelve-Years, Mickey? I'm not impressed." Vanitas said mostly to himself with a shake of his head, only to grunt as Zack came at him from the side, slamming a fist into his face and sending him flying. Flipping in midair, Vanitas slid to a halt before turning to Zack and chuckled lightly as he saw the man holding his Buster-Sword in a ready stance while King-Mickey slowly got back to his feet. "Oh, much better, I was hoping for at least a decent warm up." Vanitas said before jumping into the air and swung his Keyblade, sending an X shaped beam of energy straight towards Zack.

Narrowing his eyes, Zack lunged forward and rolled under the X-shaped beam before lunging at Vanitas and lifted his Buster-Sword up in a slash. However, Vanitas seemed to freeze as the blade connected with him and after a brief flash, the real White-Seeker appeared behind him and slammed his keyblade into Zack. Grunting as he fell down, Zack rolled out of the way as Vanitas then twisted around and stabbed his blade into the ground, Zack narrowing his eyes as he noticed Vanitas had been aiming for his head with that attack.

"Your not playing around are you…" Zack noticed with a frown and Vanitas only response was to take a familiar stance, one Kairi recognized as the one Riku often used.

"Took you this long to notice?" Vanitas quipped before lunging forward, Zack barely blocking Vanitas' blade with his Buster-Sword. Sliding back from the strength that Vanitas was putting into his attack, Zack grit his teeth before swinging his massive blade, sending Vanitas flying back. Flipping in midair, Vanitas then landed in a crouch before rolling out of the way as two spheres of light came flying at him. Turning his head, Vanitas grunted upon seeing Kairi helping King-Mickey, the spheres having come from their two Keyblades…

"Oh joy… Two Light users attacking me." Vanitas muttered sarcastically and then vanished in a brief flash of black before appearing before Kairi and Mickey, bringing his Keyblade down on top of them. However, Kairi quickly formed a reflect spell around them and King-Mickey slashed into Vanitas, knocking him back. Moving quickly, King-Mickey then ran out of the reflect spell and began to repeatedly slam his Keyblade into Vanitas, knocking him further and further back while Kairi knelt down and pierced the ground with her Keyblade. Instantly, several pillars of light formed around her before spiraling out and slamming into the White-Seeker.

Grunting as he was knocked back, Vanitas moved into a roll before groaning as he slowed himself down. Grunting and hissing in pain for a moment, Vanitas then looked back up at the annoyances that were getting in his way as they regrouped. Reaching up to his helmet, Vanitas grunted upon feeling the spider web cracks that were beginning to form in his glass helm. Shaking his head, Vanitas got up and took a stance once more even as another dark blue creature slowly crawled out of his shadow and then vanished in a burst of black energy.

Mentally chuckling, the White-Seeker then watched as his three opponents each took their own stances. _'Idiots… them and my so-called "Master"…'_ Vanitas thought to himself while gripping his keyblade tightly in his hand. _'All their doing is giving me the fuel I need to make "MY" plans come true… all I need is a little negativity to boost my powers up a bit… and the Unversed will be perfect little gatherers for that. Then I can finally be more than a Lost Sentiment…'_ Vanitas thought to himself as he then lunged forward, Mickey coming straight at him only for him to move in a flash, arching to the side as four spikes of energy formed.

Instantly the energy shot towards Mickey, only for him to jump out of the way and then come at Vanitas once more. Blocking an overhead strike from Mickey, Vanitas threw him into the air and then jumped into a kick, knocking him back in time to block a strike from Zack. Falling to one knee, Vanitas then threw his arms up, knocking Zack back before ramming his shoulder into the man. Grunting, Zack backed up and Vanitas moved forward and shoved a burst of lightning into Zack's gut, sending him flying back while Vanitas then turned his attention to Kairi.

"Tch… now that your little bodyguards are out of the way. I believe its time we got better acquainted, Princess." Vanitas said mockingly while walking towards Kairi, only she took a stance disturbingly similar to that of Aqua…

"There's no way I'd ever want to be acquainted to someone even remotely like you!" Kairi stated and Vanitas snorted before letting out a heartless, evil laugh that sent chills down Kairi's spine.

"Oh believe me Princess… I have more in common with your friends than you could ever imagine…" Vanitas stated before taking a stance across from Kairi, the girl breathing out a sigh before preparing herself for the coming onslaught from Vanitas…

(Underworld…)

Cursing under his breath, Naruto ducked under a swing from the silver haired man as he came at him, then jumped into a spinning swing. However, the man quickly dispersed himself and then appeared across from him, an infuriating little smirk across his lips. Gritting his teeth, Naruto wished he knew whom the man was when his spellbinder of knowledge started to glow… _[Sephiroth. The One Winged Angel, a Former Hero of Radiant Garden, and master Swordsmen. His powers are born of something beyond both Darkness and Light.]_ A voice echoed in his mind, however didn't put Naruto at ease with the "Master Swordsman" part echoing louder in his mind.

'_Great, no wonder the guy is such a beast…'_ The blond thought while ducking turning and dodging as Sephiroth came at him with an "Octoslash" attack eerily similar to the one used by Zack. Seeing an opening in Sephiroth's attacks, Naruto then trust his Keyblades forward, only to grunt as Sephiroth dispersed and reappeared behind him. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto swung one of his blades backwards towards Sephiroth, only for him to dodge to the side. Turning into a swing with his other key, Naruto then slid to a halt while throwing his Keyblades at Sephiroth.

However, just like before, the man vanished in a burst of energy and feathers before reappearing in the center of the arena. "Feel the Stigma…" Sephiroth uttered as he threw his arms, and his sword, into the air while summoning numerous pillars of fire around his body, the shadows around the arena pulling Naruto towards him. Growling, Naruto quickly started to back flip, keeping away from the attack before coming out in a low crouch as the fire finally stopped and Sephiroth caught his sword in hand. Smirking, Sephiroth then crouched low and shot forward, Naruto cursing as he brought up his two keyblades to guard.

The fight thus far, was clearly more a one sided slaughter that anything else, every time he attacked Sephiroth; the silver haired man seemed to disperse, block, or dodge his attack effortlessly. His speed was unreal; Naruto couldn't even attack because Sephiroth always had something to counter. That sword of his, with its unreal length, should've slowed him down or at least limited his ability to swing. But no, the man was a monster in battle, and Naruto was finding that anything that should've weakened him didn't. Instead, Sephiroth was somehow able to turn his weaknesses into strengths, and despite the situation, Naruto truly admired that about the man.

Naruto grit his teeth as he was sent flying back by Sephiroth for what felt like the hundredth time already. The man's strength was unreal; he was faster, stronger, more agile, and in general far superior to him in every way conceivable! _'Shit… Hades really did his homework when he picked someone to kill me.'_ Naruto thought to himself as Sephiroth casually circled him for a moment, a strange smirk tilting across his lips. Growling, Naruto flipped back to his feet only to fall forward as several black skeletal hands rose out of the ground and gripped at his legs.

"Should've known Hades wouldn't play fair… especially given how he's acting recently." Naruto muttered and finally saw the smirk leave Sephiroth features, a glare now formed across on his face. Crouching down he then lunged forward and with a single swing, cut the black skeletal hands apart, Naruto looking to him in surprise as he frowned and looked upwards.

"Don't interfere Hades… this is my battle." Sephiroth stated simply before swinging his sword once more, sending a wave of energy all around the arena and seemingly doing nothing… however seconds later dozens of ghouls started to fall from minuet hiding spaces and Naruto blinked in surprise. "Now we will have no more distractions." Sephiroth stated and Naruto turned to see him walking a distance away, clearly giving him time to get back up. Grunting and using Dark-Heart as leverage, Naruto climbed back to his feet and glared towards the "One-Winged-Angel".

"Why are you working for Hades? I mean, you clearly have some kind of honor if you wont allow him to interfere… and not only that but you're clearly powerful enough that you could probably kill him if you actually wanted to. So what the hell could you possibly gain from fighting for him?" Naruto demanded of the silver haired man, Sephiroth merely smirking as he shook his head and looked back towards the statue of Hades… a second later he vanished and cut the statues head from its shoulders with a flick of his wrist, his blade slicing through it like a hot knife through butter.

"I work for no man… or god." Sephiroth uttered and Naruto felt a shiver roll down his spine as the One-Winged-Angel then turned, vanished in a flash of feathers and reappeared before him. "I merely wished to test your strength, to see your darkness…" Sephiroth added coldly, that same disturbing smirk slipping across his lips while Naruto narrowed his eyes onto him.

"Well then why do you want to test me?" Naruto wondered aloud and Sephiroth smirked slightly before outstretching his arms and closing his eyes.

"I am Cloud's darkness given form… and you… you are the negative to Sora. You are his Other. In a way, we're the same." Sephiroth started and Naruto growled while glaring at him furiously. "I have faced Sora in battle… so now, I wish to see who is stronger. You or him." Sephiroth finished and Naruto grit his teeth while taking a stance with his two Keyblades. Dark-Heart held in his left hand in a reverse grip with Soul-Blade in his right in a forward grip.

"Oh is that so… well far be it for me to deprive you of that!" Naruto roared out while lunging forward, twisting into a spinning slash. Sephiroth merely jumped up and over the attack while Naruto twisted around to face him, sliding into a crouch while Sephiroth closed his eyes once more.

"Good… then the true battle can finally begin." Sephiroth uttered while crouching down and then lunged at Naruto once more and the blond just barely managed to raise his Keyblades to block his attack. Narrowing his eyes onto Sephiroth, Naruto growled and then dug his heels into the dirt before shoving Sephiroth back. The man fell back only to disperse and Naruto quickly fell back into a Dark-Corridor. Once Sephiroth reappeared Naruto fell out of the corridor above him and brought his Key's down on top of him. Moving his blade up, Sephiroth blocked the slash before throwing Naruto to the side, the blond haired youth rolled into a crouch and darkness flashed over his form.

Smirking, Sephiroth's stance suddenly changed, his body was slightly crouched and he switched his sword over to his right side, his left hand poised to grasp it. Raising a brow at this for only a moment, Naruto then lunged at Sephiroth, swinging his Kyeblades at the man only for him to practically dance around the swings. Still smirking, Sephiroth then moved like lightning, swinging with his left hand while Naruto cursed and bent backwards to evade the blade. Twisting into a flip, Naruto caught Sephiroth's sword with one of his keys and kicked the man in the face.

Landing in a low crouch, Naruto smirked while Sephiroth reached up to rub his chin before smirking as well. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto tapped his feet on the ground, a pair of knives shooting out of the front of the metal plates on them as he took a stance. Raising a brow, Sephiroth ran forward with surprising speed, preparing to strike only for Naruto to move to the side and twist into a kick with his bladed boots. Seeing the attack coming, Sephiroth dispersed out of the way while Naruto landed in a sliding crouch while keeping his senses open.

Widening his eyes, Naruto then ducked as Sephiroth came at him from behind. Placing his hands on the ground, Naruto then twisted his legs into a spinning kick, to Sephiroth, finally stabbing him in the side. Grinning, Naruto pushed off the ground and kicked Sephiroth in the face before twisting his blades out of the man. Falling back, Naruto flipped onto his feet while Sephiroth took a few steps back. Chuckling, the man's wounds healed almost instantly while Naruto's eyes widened.

"Oh shit…" Naruto mumbled while Sephiroth then threw his sword into the air.

"Perish now!" He cried as several pillars of fire formed around him, pulling an unprepared Naruto into their depths before throwing him out as they exploded. Flying out of the attack and landing in a roll, Naruto grunted while moving into a crouch and reformed his Keyblades. Catching his sword Sephiroth smirked towards Naruto while holding a hand towards the blond haired youth.

"Descend Heartless Angel!" He stated as a strange halo of light started to form around Naruto. However the blond wasn't about to take any chances and quickly threw one of his Keyblades at the man, nailing him in the face and stopping the attack before it could be completed. Stumbling back from the attack, Sephiroth shook his head, but the momentary disorientation was all Naruto needed to enter a Dark-Corridor. Coming out behind Sephiroth, Naruto slashed into him, knocking him to the side. Frowning, the silver haired man rolled to the side before righting himself and coming out in a crouch.

"Now the game gets interesting." Sephiroth mused mostly to himself as he stood up and then threw his blade into the air. "I am the chosen one!" He cried out as a wave of dark energy flowed from his body and caused shivers to run down Naruto's spine. Looking to the man, Naruto noticed that now his body was coated with a strange purple energy, his eyes nearly glowing as he caught his blade once more. However, he took a different stance as he did, no longer holding his sword in hand, now he had it well in both hands, curved forward while he held it over his left arm…

Frowning towards the One-Winged-Angel, Naruto got back to his feet and took a stance of his own before closing his eyes. "Darkness… Give me strength!" The blond pleaded lightly while opening his now bright yellow gold eyes and narrowing them onto Sephiroth as black energy flowed off his form. As it did, The Shade formed behind him, the creature growling as it placed a hand onto Naruto's shoulder. Smirking, Sephiroth then lunged forward, Naruto doing the same as their battle continued anew…

(Castle-Oblivion…)

Xine was walking through another room, frowning slightly as he did so. However, as he approached another doorway he sighed upon seeing a card on the floor. "Of course." He mumbled with a shake of his head then knelt down and picked up the card, blinking when he saw what looked like Radiant-Garden depicted on it. "Home…" He whispered quietly and then looked to the doorway in front of him and raised his arm, the card glowing brightly while the doorway opened to yet another room…

_Xine is sitting atop one of the many towers of the castle of Radiant-Garden… technically he was supposed to be on duty, but he was currently skipping out on duty to watch the sunset… Hearing footsteps, Xine turned slightly and rolled his eyes as Andross sat down next to him._

"_Still sulking about not becoming a Key-Bearer?" Andross questioned and Xine grimaced before waving that off for a moment._

"_Nah, I'm over it… mostly." Xine replied while turning back to look out towards the sunset and Andross hummed for a moment._

"_That's good to hear. And I must admit the information I obtained from the Library there is greatly helping me with my research." Andross said mostly to himself while Xine sort of tuned him out while gazing out over Radiant-Garden. Silently grinning to his friend, Xine then turned back to look out over Radiant-Garden, a smile tugging at his lips._ 'Is there any doubt that this is the most peaceful, beautiful world in the universe?' _Xine thought to himself while adjusting his glasses, noticing a sad frown marring Andross regal features out of the corner of his eye._

"_Hey Andross, what's got you looking so down man?" Xine asked his long time friend, and the silver haired man sighed while leaning his head back and closing his eyes silently for a moment._

"_Huh, oh it's nothing, Xine…" Andross assured and Xine clearly didn't look convinced as he crossed his arms over his chest._

"_Really?" He asked with an arched brow and Andross looked at him with one eye before chuckling lightly._

"_Yes, really… well… actually, I was just remembering when me and my family use to watch sunsets back home." Andross admitted while opening his eyes and Xine scratched his cheek for a moment, a thoughtful frown across his face._

"_You know… I don't think you've ever really talked about your home world before, Andross." Xine noted and Andross nodded his head silently while the bespectacled man grinned towards him. "So tell me, I'm just dying to know what it was like?" Xine questioned with a grin and Andross blinked before shaking his head for a moment and closed his eyes once more._

"_Its… hard to describe. My world existed in a place haunted by spirits of the dead. I believe we even had creatures called "Vampires" running around. A "Crusade" of some kind was going on when my world was attacked… but that beast…" Andross explained, a frown forming across his face as memories started to surface, memories of a monster with obsidian skin, bright molten gold eyes, and massive wings descending upon them all with a legion of undead soldiers and dark monstrosities…_

"_Whoa, sounds heavy. So, what did in your world anyways?" Xine questioned and Andross closed his eyes for a moment before answering._

"_A monster that is known simply as "The Black God" to most… Chernabog." Andross replied and Xine grimaced visibly at the name, he wasn't stupid, he'd heard legends of Chernabog and his cruelty, how from him all evil was born, from him, all darkness was given form… and those were some of the nicer legends that dealt with the monstrosity._

"_Honestly, I never thought Chernabog really existed." Xine admitted and Andross clenched his fists in his pants as he remembered that demonic smile on the Black-Gods lips as he devoured everything on his world, a man standing against him, a man who had tormented their world for eons, one who had nothing to gain by standing against him… The Lord of Darkness, Dracula himself…_

"_No one would… not unless they saw him face to face. One of the warriors of my world even faced Chernabog… he was beaten within a few moments. The man, the "Lord of Darkness" himself was no match for the root of all darkness. Chernabog cannot be harmed by Darkness or those who draw from its power, only Light can banish him back to the depths." Andross stated darkly, a scowl across his face while Xine rubbed the back of his neck and decided to get off that depressing topic._

"_Anyways, then you showed up here, bloody and half dead and Ansem The Wise had us bring you to the medical ward…" Xine remembered with a chuckle and Andross rolled his eyes for a moment._

"_Yeah… and then I woke up and found you and that "Braig" guy watching over me… and I couldn't understand a single word any of you were saying for the first few months." Andross noted to himself with a visible scowl and Xine outright laughed before shaking his head._

"_Yeah, and you almost looked like a chick who'd caught someone peeping on her most of the time back then…" Xine noted with both a smirk and a chuckle, Andross giving him an indignant look when he did._

"_I did not!" Andross countered and Xine crossed his arms over his chest, blood red eyes twinkling with amusement._

"_Did so." He stated and Andross glared at him, only for both to break out in a bout of laughter at the silly argument. Sighing soon after and watching as the moon rose up towards the sky, Andross visibly tensed._

"_It's almost a shame…" Andross noted and Xine blinked before looking over to him with a raised brow._

"_What is?" He asked and Andross sighed tiredly._

"_That the light has to go away and give way to night… sometimes I wish it could be ever lasting morning." Andross replied and Xine frowned visibly before shaking his head and sat back up._

"_Nah, then we wouldn't be able to see how beautiful the moon is." Xine retorted and Andross gave the man a strange look for a moment._

"_Is that all you'd miss? The moon?" Andross questioned seriously and Xine tapped at his chin for a moment._

"_The stars… the sky at night… twilight, and sunsets… I'd miss those too. A world without night isn't the kind of world I'd want to live in." Xine replied and Andross raised a brow before shaking his head._

"_But. What if a world without Night was also a world without Darkness. Would that not be worth it?" Andross countered and a frown crossed over Xine's lips as he thought about it._

"_Listen, I know bad things come from The Darkness Andross, but honestly, I think if the universe didn't want it around, we wouldn't have Darkness to begin with… besides that, you can't get rid of all Darkness, its in all things. You know, like that whole balance crap that old fart Master-Xehanort was always going on about." Xine reminded and Andross frowned for a moment before rubbing his chin._

"_But… what if the balance need not exist…" Andross wondered mostly to himself and Xine looked at his friend warily for a moment._

"_I know that look Andross… what do you got going on in that head of yours this time?" Xine questioned with a raised brow and Andross blinked before rubbing at his eyes and shook his head for a moment._

"_Probably nothing…" Andross replied with a shrug, Xine frowning only for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. Leaning back, Xine then opened a cooler he had stashed away whenever he wanted to get away from guard duty and pulled two ice-cream bars out of it._

"_Aw yeah, now this is the good stuff!" Xine said while sitting back up and handed one of the bars over to Andross while taking a bite out of his own. Blinking for a moment, Andross looked from the ice-cream to the cooler and narrowed his eyes on Xine._

"_And why exactly do you have that up here?" Andross questioned and a sly smirk crossed over Xine's features._

"_Just in case I ever want to get away and unwind." Xine replied and an amused smirk crossed over Andross' features._

"_You mean when your playing hookie from doing any work…" Andross retorted and Xine blinked before looking around Nervously then glared at his friend._

"_Shut up Andross!" He said quickly and the said man chuckled lightly before taking a bite out of his Sea-Salt Ice-Cream._

"_Andross! Andross where are you?" A familiar voice inquired and both Xine and Andross turned to see Even walking towards them. "Oh here you are. Really now, I've been looking all over the castle for you…" Even said with a shake of his head and then narrowed his eyes on Xine. "And as for you, shouldn't you be out guarding the castle or something? Really, you shouldn't always be shirking off your responsibilities, Xine…" Even stated and Xine mocked him for a moment before taking another bite out of his ice-cream while Even glared at him._

"_Even, leave Xine alone…" Andross stated and Even grumbled to himself before nodding his head. "Now then, what did you want me for?" Andross questioned while standing up and adjusting his coat for a moment._

"_I want to talk to you about a possible experiment, your suggestion last week has yielded some rather… interesting results." Even admitted and Andross cupped his chin before smirking and walking over to the man. "Now then, as I said I'm not sure if it's theoretically possible to purge…" Even started to say, Xine tuning him out as Andross and the blond man walked back into the castle…_

Shaking his head, Xine looked around the room he had opened and then frowned to himself. "Alright… so I knew a guy from another world named Andross, we were friends, and he was some kind of scientist researching light or something…" Xine said mostly to himself before crossing his arms with a thin frown across his face. Truthfully he was wondering what these memories were supposed to be trying to tell him, thus far they came off more as disjointed and even slightly pointless… eh, he'd find out what they were about if he saw enough of them he was sure.

Walking further into Castle-Oblivion, Xine raised a brow when he came to an open doorway. Walking out of it, Xine found an odd room, intricately made with a moogle of all things sitting in the center. Upon seeing the creature a grin spread over Xine's lips, while not well known he actually loved hanging around Moogles, they were just so amusing! "Well will wonders never cease?" Xine said mostly to himself before walking over to the Moogle and it looked up at him.

"Who are you? Kupo?" The thing questioned and Xine mentally rolled his eyes before pulling back his hood.

"Name's Xine, the Cursed Alchemist, the Fallen One, among many other nasty nicknames little guy." Xine replied with a grin and the Moogle tilted its head to one side before moving over to a stack of some kind.

"Oh! Someone reserved a card for you, Kupo!" The Moogle commented and Xine blinked while it pulled a blue card out of a small satchel next to it. "Here you go, Kupo Kupo!" It offered and Xine slowly took the card from the Moogle, and then noticed this had Radiant-Garden on it just like the last one had.

"Uh… thanks…" Xine offered while reaching back to rub the back of his head and the Moogle nodded its head.

"Your welcome, Kupo Kupo!" The Moogle offered before sitting down and started to pull several cards out of its satchel and was looking them over. Staring at the Moogle for a moment, Xine then shook his head and walked over to a door. Looking to the card in his hand for only a moment, he then held it up, the card glowing brilliantly as the doorway swung open, more memories of Xine's clouded past being unlocked…

_Xine yawned lightly as he walked down the halls of Radiant-Gardens castle, then removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. _'Honestly, why am I always the one giving Ansem our reports?'_ He wondered to himself for a moment before shaking his head as he wandered towards Ansem's study. Replacing his glasses and looking down at the paperwork he was carrying he grumbled to himself about the lazy assess he always seemed to work with…_

"_Alright, lets see, I'm carrying around Braig's request for more vacation time…" Xine noted while looking at the top of the stack and then moved it to the next one. "Dilan's report on the city's current status." He noted and then moved to the next piece of paperwork. "Aeleus' notes on how we can increase our overall defense of the city." He said while flipping to one under that and mentally rolled his eyes. "Even's nots on experiment 2113-X." He said with a shake of his head before looking at the next piece of paperwork with a raised brow._

"_Huh… didn't know Ansem was taking in an orphan as his next apprentice… Ienzo? That's a weird name. Now then Lets see what else we got here… several dozen other reports from around town, including one for an idea from some guy called Cid… huh… cool looking ship. A report on Sephiroth going missing… ah shit that's bad news." Xine mused before looking at the next piece of paperwork. "And of course last but certainly not least, my request to go train and eventually kick that sorry Bastard Eraqus' light loving ass!" Xine said with a scowl across his face before shaking his head and then looked back down at the stack of paperwork…_

"_How the hell do I always end up carrying all this shit anyways?" He wondered to himself while walking closer and closer to Ansems study. However as he did he then noticed voices drifting from the room and narrowed his eyes. Moving silently, Xine slowly stopped beside the door and turned slightly to see Andross and Ansem in some kind of discussion. Looking to the paperwork in his arms for a moment, Xine then ignored it and listened in on what was being said…_

"_No Andross. I cannot allow you to proceed with these experiments. In fact I absolutely forbid it!" Ansem's voice boomed as he glared at Andross with a thin frown across his bearded face._

"_But sir, surely you can see the value of my research. What's more if my theories are proven true we may actually have a way to permanently rid the worlds of Darkness. It would be foolish not to allow me to continue my experiments and…" Andross started to counter only for Ansem to slam his hands on his desk to interrupt him. Frowning, Ansem then cross his arms and leaned back in his seat a glare settled into the silver haired man._

"_While an intriguing theory Andross, testing this could have lasting repercussions on not only this world, but all of them as a whole." Ansem stated and Andross frowned before placing his hands onto Ansem's desk and leaning towards him._

"_But surely you can see all the good this would bring. The people of this world… no, of all worlds would never need fear the darkness ever again. Peace and Prosperity for all would be within our grasp at long last!" Andross countered and Ansem gave a tired sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose._

"_No Andross. Your… past experiences lead me to believe that this is more about revenge than bringing piece." Ansem stated and Andross gritted his teeth while glaring at Ansem furiously._

"_AND WHAT IF IT IS?" He demanded loudly and Ansem narrowed his eyes. "My family was murdered right in front of me, and my sister kidnapped by a servant to the Lord of Darkness himself. Not only that but that Damnable Black God destroyed my world! I think I have a right to want revenge!" Andross growled out and Ansem narrowed his eyes onto the man dangerously. "You don't know the vile things that those consumed by Darkness can do, I was near death and bleeding when my sister was taken, you don't know what its like to feel helpless… to feel as if you can do nothing!" Andross stated and Ansem gripped the arms of his chair while trying to restrain himself._

"_That is quite enough Andross!" He stated and Andross blinked before shaking his head and grimaced at the furious expression across Ansem's features. "I have heard quite enough. No, now I see the truth, your too involved with this, your anger is clouding your better judgment…" Ansem stated while turning his chair around and closed his eyes. "I want you to abandon this research Andross." Ansem then ordered while leaning back in his seat and Andross gaped towards him._

"_But… But I could save so many with this sire I just…" He tried to say only for Ansem to shoot him with a look._

"_No. Even something that could lead to good, done in the name of revenge can only lead us to tragedy, Andross. I do not wish to see you doom yourself to such a fate. So abandon this research immediately." Ansem stated and Andross gripped at the desk for a moment before nodding his head silently. "And destroy all of the files of it immediately. Some things are better left as they are… and I never want to see or hear you or anyone else is working on this ever again… do I make myself clear?" Ansem questioned while turning his chair slightly and Andross straightened up._

"_Crystal sir… forgive me for my outburst." Andross said with a slight bow before turning and walking towards the door with a livid expression. Mentally cursing, Xine moved down the hall slightly and, after some liberal use of Alchemy, hid inside of a suit of armor while Andross walked passed him. Waiting for his friend to get out of earshot, Xine then made his way out of the armor and towards Ansem's room. Knocking on the doorway for a moment, Xine watched Ansem look up and smile slightly upon seeing him._

"_Ah Xine, I was wondering when you would come inside… though I must apologize, as it seems Andross is a bit too hard headed for his own good." Ansem offered with a strange twinkle in his eye. Blinking, Xine then gaped at the man as he realized that he'd been aware he was there the whole time…_

"_How the hell do you do that?" Xine questioned and Ansem let off an amused chuckle while looking to one of the members of the royal guard._

"_You forget, they don't call me "Ansem The Wise" for nothing." Ansem replied and Xine slowly nodded his head while walking fully into the room. Walking over to Ansem's desk, Xine then put the paperwork down on it and saw a look cross the old man's face…_

"_These are the reports from around the city, sire. Most of it is a bunch of small reports, but Aeleus had some genuinely interesting ideas regarding the defense of the city from attack." Xine explained yet the same look as before remained on Ansem's face as he looked near to tears._

"_Isn't it a crime for men my age to have to deal with so much paperwork?" The admittedly aged man questioned pitifully and Xine snickered slightly while looking at him with a wide grin._

"_Sorry sire, but no." He replied and Ansem groaned before leaning back in his seat, then opened up one of his drawers and took out some sea-salt ice-cream. Watching the man for a moment, Xine then sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "So… do I even want to know what all that arguing was even about?" The bespectacled man questioned and Ansem sank into his seat and let out a tired sigh._

"_Lets just say that Andross' research was entering into very dangerous territory and leave it at that." Ansem replied and then took a bite out of his ice-cream before his eye narrowed for a moment. Frowning, the man took on a distinctly serious demeanor, Xine instantly snapping to attention as he did. "Xine I believe I have an assignment for you as a member of my royal guard." Ansem stated and Xine narrowed his eyes, all of his normally "goofy" demeanor vanishing in an instant._

"_Order and I shall obey sire." Xine replied with a curt bow and Ansem closed his eyes for a moment before explaining to him._

"_I want you to keep a close eye on, Andross. I know that he's your friend but lately his emotions have begun to cloud his better judgment… I wish for you to make certain that he doesn't continue his research. If he doesn't then you will report it back to me and we will never speak of this matter again… however, if he does I want you to report to the others and stop him immediately." Ansem explained to the man and a visibly pained look crossed Xine's features._

"_Permission to speak freely sir?" Xine questioned and Ansem motioned for him to do as he pleased. "Sir, Andross is my friend. And what your asking is for me to spy on him behind his back. Can't you get Braig to do it, it's more his speed anyways… hell even Dilan would be a better choice!" Xine tried to say but Ansem shook his head._

"_No, should either of them take an interest in his research, Andross would immediately notice something was wrong, and Even isn't a good pick either. He would most likely help Andross with his research rather than tell me what he was up to." Ansem replied and Xine sighed before rubbing his face as Ansem then closed his eyes. "Xine, I have never asked something like this of you, or any of my royal guard. I know each of you is fully capable and willing to do what is necessary to protect Radiant Garden… however I trust you most out of many of them." Ansem explained and then leaned back in his seat for a moment._

"_Unlike them, you genuinely love this world and would rather die than see it harmed. For all your faults you are my most loyal guardsmen. That is why I must ask you to do this for me Xine. Help me protect Andross from himself before he does something rash." Ansem pleaded and Xine sighed softly while closing his eyes, then adjusted his glasses, causing them to catch the glare and hide his eyes. And if Ansem had seen Xine's eyes, he would have seen that both of his eyes were now visibly sharper than normal._

"_Understood sire. I will do what needs to be done to protect my home… and my friend." Xine agreed and gave a slight bow before turning and made his way out of the room, only to stick his head back in. "But you better approve of my request for doing this shit for you…" Xine then added with his normal goofy attitude and Ansem couldn't help but chuckle as the strange man then moved back out and left him to his ice-cream… oh… and that blasted paperwork…_

As Xine came out of his memories once more, he slowly walked forward, eye unblinking as he reached a hand to the eye patch he wore. "Ansem… Andross… I… he…" Xine whispered before gritting his teeth, the snow that was his memory returning yet again as he shook his head. "Something happened back then… but what?" Xine wondered to himself before walking further into Castle-Oblivion his glasses catching the glare of the bright white lights all around him…

(Underworld…)

"I officially hate looking for these stupid statues…" Axel grumbled as he and Larxene tried to carry one of the statues of Pandora.

"Quit your fucking complaining and just help me move this thing already!" Larxene snarked towards the red haired man while also trying to lift the statue, only for the both of them to accidentally drop it to the ground and groan. "Dammit, why the hell couldn't these be any lighter!" Larxene demanded while glaring furiously at the statue and Axel rubbed one of his shoulders.

Truthfully, they had been using Dark-Corridors up until now. However, certain areas around The Underworld seemed to cancel out Dark-Corridors, thus they had to drag the statues to an area they could use one. Unfortunately, the solid-gold statues were extremely heavy, not to mention full sized, and neither he nor Larxene were known for having super-strength. Of course each were strong, but their strength paled in comparison to the more heavy set members of The Organization, such as Lexaeus for instance.

"Makes me really wish Lexaeus was around… how bout you?" Axel questioned and Larxene looked to the statue and snorted.

"You kidding, of course it does!" Larxene replied and then huffed before sitting down next to the odd golden statue. Sitting down as well, Axel reached into his Black-Cloak and looked at the odd little charm that Naruto had left with him.

"So this is all that's left of Xion… man that's kinda sad." Axel said to himself while looking it over and Larxene rolled her eyes.

"Go cry me a river flame breath." Larxene snarked before huffing out a breath and looked towards the abyss with a frown. Growling, Axel tossed the charm into the air before catching it and then glared over at the blond woman.

"Alright seriously, what the hell is your problem, Larxene?" Axel demanded and the blond gave him a look for a moment.

"What are you talking about? I'm just staring into the Abyss…" She questioned and Axel had to keep from falling down, was it him or was she just acting weird lately?

"No not that, what is with how moody you've been lately?" Axel demanded and Larxene scoffed before giving him an annoyed look.

"I'm not moody, I'm a Nobody remember…" Larxene reminded and Axel pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment, a deep scowl working its way over his face.

"Yeah, I know, and normally I'd be find with you being an extremely cold and utterly emotionless bitch, but instead, you're an overly cynical and insulting bitch who has the personality of a child!" Axel shouted and Larxene's eyes flared before grabbing him by his cloak and grit her teeth.

"Well fire for brains just in case you've forgotten, you and the superiors in Castle-Oblivion were planning on killing me!" Larxene shouted at the red haired man furiously and Axel blinked for a moment before frowning.

"Your hearts coming back isn't it…" He stated and saw Larxene's eyes widen before she shoved him away roughly and cross her arms over her chest with a scowl.

"So what if it is dipshit…" She muttered angrily and Axel rubbed the back of his neck for a moment while staring at her.

"Uh… nothing, but that old guy mentioned you acted like you had a pretty bad life…" Axel admitted and Larxene snorted before standing up, snapped her fingers and multiple copies of herself appeared. Pointing to the statue, Larxene silently ordered her clones to pick it up before stomping off, a strange look over her face as she went. Blinking for a moment Axel then growled and followed after the blond haired Nobody as she left. "Hey! What the hell Larxene, why didn't you do that earlier?" He demanded while placing a hand on her shoulder, only to curse as the girl grabbed his wrist and then flipped him onto the ground.

Larxene then put her heeled boot to his throat and glared at him furiously, one eye twitching as she looked at him. "Listen fire-puss, I don't have the patience to deal with your ass right now, I'm tired, I'm pissed off, and I sure as fuck do not want to be around you right now!" Larxene growled and then released Axel's wrist, crossed her arms and followed after her clones while Axel sat up with wide eyes.

"I miss it when she flirted with me…" Axel said to himself before sighing softly, standing up he then ran after Larxene while wondering if it was too late to turn her back into a Nobody, especially since she was so much more… tolerant of him, when she didn't have her heart returning…

Elsewhere, Alice is walking next to Kratos, pouting slightly as they wander further and further into the Underworld. _'Honestly, why do I always end up separated from Naruto? And as if Miss-Larxene wasn't hard enough to deal with, this man is such a…'_ Alice mentally stopped herself from continuing that line of thought and then took a deep breath while walking beside of Kratos. _'Well… at least he's not mad.'_ She finally thought to herself as she was quite sick of always being around the man, ten years of it in the asylum was bad enough after all…

"Excuse me Mister Kratos, but where exactly are we going?" Alice questioned from behind the ash-skinned man and he grunted lightly, arms crossed and shoulders clearly very tense.

"We're exploring…" Kratos replied flatly and Alice mentally groaned, wondering why she couldn't have landed next to Axel since at least he liked to chat with her… no wait she didn't want to be around his fire. Tira? No, she was mad to a startling degree. Larxene? Well… she was better than Kratos but if she had her pick no she wouldn't have liked to be stuck with her again… Sighing softly, Alice started throwing her knife into the air and catching it absently, Kratos blinking when he heard the sound it made. Turning, he saw Alice absently throwing the long wicked knife into the air and raised a brow.

"Why are you doing that?" He demanded and Alice gave him a bored look.

"Because I don't have anything better to do presently…" She replied while throwing the knife into the air again, the caught it in her hand. Turning with a shake of his head, Kratos only inwardly wondered at her level of skill with that blade. To be able to throw it in the air, and catch it in one hand without cutting her fingers was impressive, the fact she wasn't concentrating on it made it even MORE impressive… However, when he suddenly saw a familiar brown haired girl walking towards them, Kratos growled and reached back for his Blades of Exile.

Alice noticed Kratos stopped and blinked for a moment while catching her knife and then looped it into the ribbon of her pinafore. Moving to the side of Kratos, Alice saw Tira standing across from them; the girls right eye twitching while her shoulders tensed visibly. Smiling upon finally seeing someone from Naruto's group Alice would have walked forward had Kratos not gotten in the way. "What are you doing here wench?" Kratos demanded of Tira with a scowl and Alice would've corrected him, but actually agreed that Tira was more of a wench than anything else…

"I WAS looking for my master…" Tira replied, and Alice blinked, the girl's normally chipper, happy voice sounded distinctly different… something about it sounded darker, meaner, more fierce even. "But I think I'd rather skin you alive!" Tira then added while allowing her shoulders to sag, her Ring-Blade over one of them and Alice instantly realized something wasn't right. As long as she'd known Tira, she'd always kept her Ring-Blade poised upwards, now it was like she was doing the opposite.

"Drown in the depths of Hades!" Kratos cried as he lunged at Tira the now "gloomy" girl snarling as she jumped and swung her ring-blade down at him.

"I'll cut your heart out!" She roared while Kratos rolled out of the way of her blade, and then twisted around, swinging his blades at her. Blinking, Alice watched as Tira ducked and then rammed her shoulder into the Spartan warrior before swinging her Ring-Blade towards him while keeping it low to the ground. Grunting, Kratos flipped over the attack and then kicked out at Tira knocking her back while he landed on his back. Flipping to their feet the two then glared at one another while Alice looked to them with confusion clear across her face…

"Umm… excuse me?" Alice tried to say only for the two to lung at one another once more, Kratos swinging his Blades of Exile down towards Tira. However the lithe girl evaded them deftly and then rammed her knee into his gut instead. "Pardon me please…" Alice tried this time only for them to further ignore her as Tira spun her Ring-Blade around her body like a hoola-hoop, cutting into Kratos multiple times before head-butting him in the face. "Please, I do not think that this violence…" Alice was about to say only to yelp as Kratos and Tira rammed into one another, Kratos trying to choke Tira only for her to move around and wrap her legs around him from behind while yanking on his neck with the inside of her ring.

"Why don't you just stop breathing and die!" Tira shouted while Kratos grunted and grabbed her Ring-Blade a furiously look across his face.

"I won't die until I've taken Zeus's heart!" Kratos roared while throwing Tira off of his back, the girl flipping in the air and landing in a low crouch. Growling, Kratos then tossed her Ring-Blade to the side before lunging at the brunette with a furious scowl. Narrowing her eyes, Tira lunged forward as well then rolled to the side and spun into a kick, knocking Kratos off of his feet. Grunting lightly, Kratos quickly rolled back to his feet while Tira lunged at her Ring-Blade and picked it back up.

"Really is this necessary?" Alice demanded as they two lunged at one another, Tira spinning her Ring-Blade to knock one of Kratos Blades to the side and then kicked him in the chest. "Miss Tira…" Alice tried to say only for Kratos to lunge forward, ram into Tira and plow her through a stalagmite… "Mister Kratos, please…" Alice tried once more, only for her eyes to twitch as Tira kicked Kratos off of herself, a livid look on her face.

"No one touches me but my master!" She shouted before lunging at Kratos with a swing of her Ring-Blade, the ashen-skinned Spartan rolling out of the way as she nearly cleaved him in half. Seeing this, Alice felt one of her eyes twitch while they turned a noticeable shade of amber gold…

"That is quite enough!" She shouted and was promptly ignored as Kratos rammed into Tira from behind, throwing her to the ground where she rolled forward and into a crouching stance. Growling out and gritting her teeth in frustration, Alice reached into her pocket and pulled out the "Dead-Time Watch" before clicking the switch on the top, stopping all time. Muttering to herself the girl then stomped forward before putting a Jack-Bomb before Kratos and another before Tira, then walked away from the two. Crossing her arms she then clicked the watch once more, watched the two look at the bombs in surprise before both exploded, throwing the two back…

Blinking, both turned to see the CLEARLY angry girl was now yellow eyed and Tira growled. "Don't get in the way!" Tira shouted before lunging at Alice, only for Alice to frown and use her Dead-Time Watch yet again. Muttering to herself about impossibly rude people, Alice then took Tira's Ring-Blade and dug it into the ground, looked around and grabbed a nearby rope, then tied it around Tira. Taking a quick breath she then started to move Tira to the side she then kicked her into a pit before securing the rope around a stalagmite and looked down at Tira before clicking the watch yet again.

Tira blinked as Time restarted then yelped while grabbing hold of the rope she was hanging from with wide eyes. "How did you do that?" She demanded and a flat look crossed Alice's face.

"I can stop Time remember…" Alice said flatly and Tira blinked before making an Oh with her mouth and nodded her head. "Now then, since I finally have your attention." Alice stated then turned to see a confused Kratos getting up, only a few minor burns over his form from the Jack-Bomb. "Why in the Bloody Hell were you two beating on one another?" Alice demanded and Tira blinked before growling angrily.

"He killed master!" Tira exclaimed and Alice blinked for a moment.

"But I've been with him and Naruto is still clearly alive…" She stated and Tira twitched visibly after a moment.

"No! Before Master's new host! He killed the old one! Because of him, I failed to protect my master!" Tira shouted and Alice pinched the bridge of her nose before turning her narrowed eyes onto Kratos.

"And why pray tell were you encouraging this?" She demanded flatly and Kratos grunted while crossing his arms over his chest.

"She was an enemy last time I saw her…" He replied and Alice frowned before nodding her head fro a moment.

"I can accept that." She admitted only to turn back to Tira, pull her Vorpal-Blade from her Pinafore and hold it dangerously close to the rope holding Tira up. "Now as for you, you are to behave or I will push you into the deepest, darkest pit I can find… understood?" Alice demanded and Tira bit back a curse before pouting as she hung from the rope.

"Yes…" She replied angrily and Alice narrowed her eyes.

"What? I'm afraid I couldn't hear you…" Alice noted while stabbing her knife into the rope, chopping a portion of it away and Tira's eyes bolted wide open.

"YES, YES, YES, YES I UNDERSTAND! I'LL BE GOOD!" She shouted loudly and Alice smirked before pulling her knife out and tucked it away again.

"Good. Mister Kratos do be helpful and pull miss Tira back out of the pit would you." Alice asked while walking over to fetch Tira's Ring-Blade and Kratos stared at the odd dark-auburn haired girl for a few moments… _'Naruto travels with interesting women…'_ Kratos couldn't help but think before walking over to the pit and started to pull Tira out of it…

(Radiant Garden…)

King-Mickey groaned as he slowly got back to his feet. From what he could tell, while physically Vanitas was weaker than normal, his skill hadn't been lessened in the least. _'Although that's not really all that surprising with him.'_ Mickey thought to himself before lunging into the fray once more, dodging a blast of black ice from Vanitas before ramming into his side. Vanitas grunted and fell to the side before moving into a roll, then placed a hand to the floor and kicked him back while flipping back onto his feet. King-Mickey groaned lightly as he hit the ground, it was obvious Vanitas was trying to keep him out of the fight the most.

Kairi wasn't as experienced in combat as he was, and Zack didn't have any light based powers that could destroy him. However, what Zack lacked in light based powers he more than made up for with raw strength. Grunting lightly, King-Mickey got back to his feet while Kairi passed him and swung her key at Vanitas. However the masked youth easily moved to the side to evade the blade. Mickey grimaced at this, Kairi really needed someone more experienced to teach her how to use a Keyblade, and honestly, he wouldn't be a good choice…

Kairi was not having fun, not in the least. Her light based magic and powers had surprisingly little effect on this Vanitas guy. Not only that but it was like he was getting stronger the longer they fought with him. Not even a second ago she had watched as he started lunging into the ground only to shoot out of it somehow. _'But that's crazy, people get weaker as they fight, not stronger.'_ Kairi told herself while evading a slash from Vanitas while Zack came from the side and slammed a fist into Vanitas head, sending him flying to the side yet again.

'_Thank Kingdom-Hearts for Zack…'_ Kairi thought to herself while the black haired man narrowed his eyes on Vanitas as he pushed himself back to his feet. Looking to Zack, Kairi watched as the man closed his eyes and gripped his Buster-Sword's handle with both hands. Oddly, Zack raised the weapon and leaned his head against the blade, eyes still closed. However, as Zack opened his eyes they seemed to flash as he threw his left hand to the side a massive white wing unfurling.

"I'm ending this fight now!" Zack stated before flapping his wing and lunging at Vanitas, rearing his arm back and then slamming it into the White-Seeker's helmeted head. Vanitas was forced back several steps by the blow, only to grunt as Zack then kneed him in the gut before twisting around, slamming the blunt side of his sword into Vanitas. Gripping the blade with both hands he then rapidly slashed into Vanitas, slicing through the masked-youths Dark-Armor before finishing off with a powerful uppercut, throwing Vanitas into the air.

"Take this!" Zack then said while flapping his wing towards Vanitas the feathers of his wing flying into Vanitas and slicing into him like daggers before he finally fell and hit the ground. Breathing out a sigh, Zack then felt his wing dissipate and fell down into a sitting position. Propping an arm on one leg, Zack watched as Vanitas tried to get up, revealing his helmet had broken and now showed one of his bright yellow eyes. Shaking his head as Vanitas fell back to the ground, Zack shook his head slightly before falling back with a smirk on his face.

"He's not so tough." Zack mused to himself while King-Mickey wondered where the man had gone to become so powerful. Deciding it didn't matter, Mickey walked towards Vanitas with Kairi in tow, both remaining wary of the White-Seeker. Kairi was the first of the two to venture closer to Vanitas and looked down to see his eye was closed. Kneeling down, the red haired girl reached towards the broken helmet and frowned to herself.

"Just who are you?" She wondered only to yelp as Vanitas suddenly laughed and then opened his bright yellow eyes to look at her. Quickly moving back and away from the strange Seeker, Kairi and Mickey watched as he slowly sat up with a chuckle.

"My my my… now isn't this scene familiar." He mused to himself then rolled over onto his side with a light groan. "Ugh… I guess its true what they say… warriors from the dark-worlds… really are stronger…" Vanitas said to himself before laughing in his throat as he held his side and used his Keyblade as leverage to get back to his feet.

"What do you mean a warrior from the dark-worlds? Zack is from Radiant-Garden!" Mickey stated and Vanitas chuckled while looking to the mouse as Zack flipped to his feet with a frown on his face.

"Now why should I go and spoil the surprise?" Vanitas questioned while reaching up to his mask for a moment and frowned. "Ugh… to think I was beaten by the likes of you three…" He muttered while the three readied their weapons and Vanitas chuckled to himself before grunting in pain. "My power… I guess its been lessened severely since I was last awake." Vanitas said to himself and Kairi gulped upon hearing he was actually weaker than he normally was.

"Vanitas, what are you doing here anyways?" King-Mickey demanded and Vanitas looked to him for a moment and then shook his head.

"Explaining it to you dolts would be a pointless waste of my time…" Vanitas stated and then groaned lightly as he put a hand to his head. Honestly, if that Zack guy had more than enough power to tear into him, he REALLY wanted to get to the dark worlds. There was no telling how powerful someone like him could become on those worlds… plus he really wanted his real Keyblade back from Naruto since this fake he was using was such a dissapointment. Feeling his helmet for a moment, Vanitas then shook his head with a frown when he noticed the crack / hole in it.

"Well, I guess this helmet is more or less useless now… and there's no point in me always wearing a mask…" Vanitas started to muse before his helmet glowed and started to melt away, Kairi and Mickey gasping as his face was finally revealed. "Especially when its just so amusing to see the looks on your faces!" The black haired youth said with a grin while Kairi saw the resemblance instantly…

"S-Sora?" She questioned of him with wide eyes and Vanitas laughed once more before grinning towards her darkly.

"Sorry Princess, but I'm not your little boy-toy boyfriend." Vanitas stated and then crossed his arms over his chest, an amused smirk across his face as Kairi visibly blushed. "Though… I did tell you I have more in common with your friends than you'd ever imagine." Vanitas reminded cruelly and then closed his eyes, his shadow stretching out and expanding from his body, Mickey's eyes widening as it did.

"What are you doing now?" Mickey demanded and Vanitas merely smirked as dozens of Unversed started to form out of the shadows around him.

"Simple, you idiot. I'm releasing the Unversed onto the worlds again… my little friends here will make certain that I get the power I'll need to reform myself as a whole being again." Vanitas explained and then smirked as Mickey formed his keyblade and narrowed his eyes onto him. "Oh and sorry, but I'm not about to spoil the surprise." Vanitas then added as the Unversed behind him twisted around. "Suffice it to say, that right now I'm little more than a remnant of my original self. A lost lingering memory of whom I once was… no… more of a "Lingering-Sentiment" if you will." Vanitas explained and then smirked lightly, as his shadow grew larger and larger, more and more Unversed starting to rise out of him.

"Yeah… and besides I'll just send out a few "old friends" to keep you dolts busy for a good long while." Vanitas said mostly to himself and Mickey scowled deeply towards him even as Leon, Aerith, Kakashi and Sakura ran into the room. Looking around, Aerith closed her eyes and clasped her hands together as if in prayer while using a spell that caused a gentle breeze to flow through the room, healing Zack, Mickey and Kairi instantly. As she did, Mickey looked to her with a grateful smile before turning back towards Vanitas with a glare.

Blinking as he felt his wounds melt away, Zack grinned towards his Girlfriend before glaring at Vanitas. The said White Seeker grimaced as he looked around and considered his odds of winning… hell would probably freeze over first considering how badly damaged he already was. "Six on one… talk about totally unfair advantage… I thought you warriors of light had some kind of honor code or something…" Vanitas grumbled out with a smirk as Mickey moved forward, holding Darkside at the ready.

"We do but you're not someone to underestimate Vanitas! Now what makes you think I'll allow you to unleash the Unversed on the worlds again?" Mickey demanded and Vanitas took a mock thoughtful expression for a moment.

"Hnn… well it could be because in about five seconds we'll be having some extra company, and my Unversed will take all of two seconds to disperse among the worlds… and then even if you destroy me, I'll just reform anywhere an Unversed already is…" Vanitas mused aloud and Mickey blinked before gasping as the Unversed vanished, each one dispersing in a flash of darkness while Vanitas smirked as a Dark-Corridor then opened up next to them.

"Great, more bad news…" Zack muttered to himself as three figures walked out of the corridor, two in black cloaks, and one clearly a Pure-Blood Heartless. However, upon seeing them, Vanitas narrowed his eyes on the sole female in the trio and then frowned. The three themselves looked somewhat disorientated, the Heartless in particular who also backed away from both Kairi and Mickey while visibly shivering. Seeing this, the male of the group turned to look at him from the shadows of his hood.

"It's alright my friend, no need to be frightened." Ansem the Wise's voice came from the man and Mickey looked to him in surprise. The man then chuckled while crossing his arms behind his back and turned to look at Mickey. "Its been quite some time my old friend, your looking quite well." Ansem said and Mickey smiled as the man then pulled his hood away from his face.

"Ansem the Wise?" Leon questioned and the man mutely nodded his head, Leon shaking his head for a moment before pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oi, something tells me this warrants a very long story." Leon mumbled and Ansem decided better of commenting on it before looking to Vanitas and frowned visibly.

"So, I see a being of Darkness is in Sora's form. Is this as simple as it appears or something far more sinister, Mickey?" Ansem questioned of the mouse and Mickey looked back to Vanitas with a scowl while gripping his keyblade tightly.

"More Sinister… much more. That's Vanitas, the former apprentice of Master-Xehanort." Mickey explained and hooded girl's head moved towards the black haired teen while Sakura and Kakashi looked to one another, both clearly lost with what was going on. However, it was Vanitas himself who spoke up, eyes locked onto the hooded girl as a deep scowl crossed his features.

"I'd recognize that light anywhere even if it was buried under the deepest of all darkness." Vanitas stated and the girl narrowed her eyes behind her hood, and then quickly formed a familiar keyblade with E shaped teeth at her side.

"What are you doing here, Vanitas? You were destroyed!" Aqua demanded in a low growl and Mickey then looked at her with a combination of shock, joy, and surprise all across his face.

"Aqua… is that really you?" Mickey asked and the girl turned to him and then reached up and pulled her hood away. Upon seeing his long lost friend, Mickey smiled widely only for Vanitas to mock retch and then scoff at the display.

"So "Master Aqua" finally returns home… bit late don't you think." Vanitas mused aloud, Aqua frowning towards the incarnation of darkness.

"What's that supposed to mean, Vanitas?" Aqua demanded and a cruel smirk slid across Vanitas features as he looked to the blue haired woman.

"Well I'll answer with a question of my own… one like this, how's dear little Ventus been doing recently?" Vanitas questioned with a grin and Aqua blinked for a moment before glaring at him heatedly.

"What does that have to do with anything?" The blue haired girl demanded and Vanitas laughed lightly before shaking his head.

"Poor poor Ven, he has such thoughtless friends. Leaving him all alone like that and for so long too. Really, your just so terrible, aren't you Aqua." Vanitas replied condescendingly and Aqua lunged at him for the verbal assault.

"What have you done!" She demanded while swinging Eraqus Keyblade down at Vanitas, the masked youth blocking with his own and groaning as he fell to his knees. However as he did his shadow curved, now forming a ring around the warriors of light and Aqua glared at him heatedly. "Just what are you up too now Vanitas?" She demanded and Vanitas laughed lightly before staring into her blue eyes with his bright yellow ones.

"You know you shouldn't have even bothered attacking me at this point… in my current state I'm way too weak to fight a Keyblade-Master like you." Vanitas mused aloud even as a Dark-Corridor opened up behind him. "So for now, I'll bid you a fond, farewell… Keyblade-Master Aqua… Though I'll leave you all with a little parting gift, from me to all of you." Vanitas offered with a mocking bow of his head as he then rolled backwards and vanished into the Dark-Corridor. As he did, dozens of Unversed formed out of the dark shadows around them and Aqua cursed while looking around before they lunged into attack…

In the Room of Repose, Xehanort sensed Vanitas leaving and frowned deeply before sensing something… even more disturbing. "She's… here?" He wondered before standing up and looked upwards one hand on the throne in the room to steady himself, even as his yellow eyes briefly turning an electric blue color. "Aqua…" He whispered before gripping his head as his eyes returned to the yellow gold they had been before. Scowling, Xehanort then reached back and pulled his hood over his face, Darkness twisting his body back into the form of an old man.

Quickly, Xehanort walked out of the room, passing by a clearly bored Xigbar on his way. Seeing his master leaving, Xigbar followed after him before noticing he was moving faster than normal, and seemed visibly nervous. "Something going on?" Xigbar questioned of the man and Xehanort silently nodded his head. Inside however he was a mess of nerves. The fact that Aqua was still alive had never occurred to him, he could have gone looking for her… but he didn't… and right now, he couldn't face her as he is.

"Unfortunately. Vanitas has left this world and unleashed his Unversed on the worlds of light again. But that is a minor problem at best and may actually help in the grand scheme of things. But added onto that already bad situation however is the return of Master-Aqua and Ansem The Wise…" Xehanort explained and Xigbar visibly grimaced, he wasn't in the mood to face off against that blue haired chick again. He hadn't been kidding when he told Sora the keyblade had chosen a dud this time, truly, Ventus, Terra, and Aqua had been far superior Keybearers to him after all…

"Yikes, so what do we do now?" Xigbar questioned and Xehanort folded his arms behind his back, yellow gold eyes narrowed dangerously.

"We head for the dark worlds and seek my new apprentice. I'll have to start his training immediately with Aqua about the worlds of light once more…" Xehanort replied while opening a Dark-Corridor and walking into it. Smirking lightly, Xigbar followed after the man, both vanishing into the shadows while the Dark-Corridor closed…

(Underworld…)

Naruto rolled out of the way as Sephiroth came at him with a swing of his sword. Coming out in a low crouch, Naruto then lunged at Sephiroth, The Shade lunging off of him and grabbing the silver haired man. **"Submit!"** The Shade roared before slamming Sephiroth into the ground and then threw him over to the side. However, upon dispersing, Sephiroth landed in a crouched stance and narrowed his eyes onto Naruto.

"Come, power!" Sephiroth said while vanishing then reappeared before Naruto swinging his sword at him. Cursing, Naruto moved to block the swing as Sephiroth swung at him seven more times before finally finishing. "No more games." Sephiroth uttered as on the final slash he brought his weapon up and slammed it into the ground a burst of energy knocking Naruto back. "Show me what you've got." Sephiroth ordered, the blond haired ex-shinobi growling as he stared towards the man furiously.

"How's this!" Naruto demanded while the Shade appeared before him and they rocketed into the one-winged-angel, knocking him into the air. Sliding to the side, Naruto and The Shade then charged at Sephiroth again, slamming into him and knocking him into the air again only for him to disperse. Growling, Naruto slid to the side while the Shade formed behind him again. Looking around for the silver haired man, Naruto then cursed as he was slashed from behind, then kneed in the back of the head, causing him to roll forward.

Smirking as he saw Naruto and the Shade roll forward, Sephiroth prepared his weapon once more. "Dodge this!" He cried darkly before lunging at Naruto, spinning into a tornado and his blade slashed through the blond once more. Gritting his teeth in pain, Naruto backed up several paces before rearing his arms back and threw both of his Keyblades at Sephiroth. The weapons slammed into the man, knocking him back before returning to their master's hands. Crouching back for a moment, Sephiroth then tossed his sword to the side, the weapon vanishing in a flash of Darkness.

"I shall lead you, to the Promised Land!" He then cried while jumping into the air and held his hands above his head. Looking up, Naruto widened his eyes as the One-Winged-Angel formed an enormous ball of energy over his head. Smirking lightly, the Silver haired man then threw the attack down towards Naruto. Cursing, the blond ran forward and rolled under the attack, the Shade vanishing and reappearing behind him as they landed behind it as it hit and exploded. Gritting his teeth and lunging forward, Naruto came at Sephiroth with a swing of his Keyblade, only for the man to vanish.

Turning on one heel, Naruto felt his eyes widen, as Sephiroth appeared adjacent to him, his blade poised to strike. Cursing lightly, Naruto was unprepared as Sephiroth; lunged forward using a "Flash" ability to cut into him multiple times before backhanding him roughly. Flying to the side only to skid along the ground, Naruto grunted as The Shade eventually grabbed him and helped him float off the ground. Shaking his head, Naruto used his "Regeneration" spell and felt as it started to heal him even as Sephiroth held a hand towards him.

"Descend Heartless Angel…" Sephiroth uttered darkly, a cruel smirk across his lips as Sora's eyes widened before crying out as a halo of light formed around him, then exploded out. The Shade cried out as it was suddenly banished from existence and Naruto fell to his knees while Sephiroth prepared himself by crouching down. "Now you die…" The man whispered darkly while lunging forward, Naruto's eyes widening as he came ever closer. However, he then saw one of his Spellbinders flash and made a mental note to thank whoever was looking out for him.

"_**The Spellbinder of Transformations has awakened…"**_ A voice said in his mind and Naruto wondered what good that was going to do for him. Widening his eyes as Sephiroth slashed at him, Naruto's eyes widened as he felt his body change. However, rather than turn into a person, Naruto's body suddenly became a dense mist, Sephiroth sliding forward as his blade flowed through it. The Mist then flowed around before becoming a tornado and formed into a smaller shape. This time it was a Wolf, a black and red Wolf with the Dark-Heart keyblade on its back.

Blinking for a moment, Naruto looked at his form and then grinned while lunging at Sephiroth. Smirking, Sephiroth swung his sword only for the wolf to become mist, the mist reforming behind him into a fox. The Fox like the wolf is black and red, four tails swinging behind it, only this time it had the Gears of Madness key held in its jaws and Soul-Blade on its back. Lunging at Sephiroth the fox knocked his legs out from under him before flipping around to face him as he got back up. Narrowing his eyes, Sephiroth swung at Naruto yet again, only for him to change into a bat that screeched before flying into the air.

Narrowing his eyes, Sephiroth flapped his single wing and flew after the strange black and red bat. However, Naruto mentally grinned, also wishing he could've used this trick in the past as he changed back into a wolf. Falling towards Sephiroth, Naruto took in a breath before unleashing a howl, a burst of ice flying from his mouth and towards Sephiroth. Seeing this, Sephiroth dodged to the side while Naruto curled into a ball and slammed into him as a wolf. Righting himself and kicking off of the silver haired man, Naruto changed into a bat and flew out of the way of a swing from Sephiroth.

Flying around for a moment, Naruto then turned into a mist as Sephiroth came at him. Looking around with a raised brow, Sephiroth then widened his eyes as Naruto used a Dark-Lightning spell as Mist. The resulting attack was as if Naruto had become lightning electricity arching and sparking from the mist and into Sephiroth from all angles before he was released and Naruto changed into a cat. The cat like the others was black and red, and like its species should, landed on its feet while Sephiroth landed on his back with a grunt.

Turning to hiss towards Sephiroth, Naruto then changed into a fox once more and narrowed his eyes, never noticing he had four tails behind him. Crouching down, Naruto watched Sephiroth rise up before lunging forward with surprising speed. Lashing out, the surprisingly large fox lashed out at Sephiroth, swinging his key into Sephiroth's face before kicking off of his chest and landed gracefully while the man shook his head. Scowling, Sephiroth threw his blade into the air and Naruto's eyes widened when he realized what was coming next.

"Perish now." Sephiroth uttered as several pillars of fire started to rise up around him, the transformed youth mentally cursing as he ran from them. The pillars pulled him towards them, the pull too strong for his small form and so Naruto closed his eyes and returned to his normal form. Breathing a sigh of relief as he rolled forward, the attack stopping he turned only for Sephiroth to smirk. "Give in to the dark." He uttered while snapping his fingers, orbs of dark energy form around Naruto, the blond cursing as he rolled out of their way.

Landing in a low crouch while Sephiroth looked towards him with obvious amusement, Naruto snapped his fingers, recalling the Shade. The Symbiotic Heartless narrowed its eyes on Sephiroth while Naruto rose off of the ground and held his blades to either side. **"Suffer in Darkness!"** The Shade roared as it pulled Naruto into the air before lunging down at the ground then slammed a fist down. Instantly spikes of Darkness rose off of the ground and stabbed upwards, Sephiroth quickly dispersing to evade it while Naruto turned to see him appear in the air.

"The time has come…" Sephiroth mused while holding his hands into the air and then swept his open palms towards Naruto. "To be one with the Life-stream…" He stated as dozens of meteors flew from around him all heading straight for the blond haired Seeker. Mentally twitching, Naruto felt The Shade grab him and then pull him into the ground while the meteors slammed into the ground where he had been. Smirking as his attack ended, Sephiroth landed on the ground and looked around only for a black portal to open behind him.

"**Submit!"** The Shade roared while grabbing Sephiroth from behind, forming into a mist and flowing into his body. Grunting, Sephiroth watched as Naruto then appeared out of the ground and ran towards him. Preparing to strike, Sephiroth grunted as The Shade held him still while Naruto jumped up and swung his Keyblades into him. Dispersing, Sephiroth tried to attack Naruto from behind, but yet again The Shade held him firm and Naruto turned and began to attack him once more. Stumbling back slightly, Sephiroth frowned before watching as Naruto snapped his fingers, The Shade reforming behind the blond.

Narrowing his eyes, Sephiroth then lunged forward, swinging his blade at Naruto but the blond ducked under the attack before turning into a swing to Sephiroth's midsection, both remaining still as Naruto fought to catch his breath. "What intriguing power…" Sephiroth mused if only to himself while standing up and taking a lax posture, Naruto slowly getting up as he kept his eyes on Sephiroth, the Shade narrowing its own eyes onto the man.

"So… is that it?" Naruto questioned while Sephiroth turned to look at him with one eye and then smirked.

"Yes… I'll admit, like Sora you are very skilled… however, neither of you possess the power to eliminate me." Sephiroth mused aloud while brushing off his arms, clearly not even winded by the battle, making Naruto groan lightly as he stood up. "Here." Sephiroth then said while throwing a black feather towards Naruto, only for it to change into a Keyblade, which he quickly caught. Blinking, Naruto looked from the blade to Sephiroth and saw that the man was gone. "Grow stronger… my brother from the Dark." Sephiroth's voice echoed from all around and Naruto frowned before looking back to the Keyblade.

The Keyblade was strange, its handle looked like that of a katana, having black leather weaved over it, the guard of the weapon was blocky on the outside, with two streams of what looked like fire to either side of the handle, the shaft of the key was actually the blade of a sword, black in color with a sharp blue edge, the teeth of the key were formed by what looked like a red and orange curled fireball, last is the key-chain, if it could even be called that, for instead of a chain, a red string is tied into a bow at the pommel of the keyblade, a single black wing attached to the opposite end of the string as the charm… (One-Winged-Angel…)

"Cool…" Naruto said to himself before putting Dark-Heart away and held OWA and Soul-Blade in his hands… "These should do for the moment." Naruto mused while placing the two Keyblades onto his back and then walked over to a doorway. Watching as it opened to reveal an exit, Naruto walked into it, only to stop when he saw a piece of paper nearby. Lingering on the paper for a moment, Naruto walked over to it and turned it around before frowning as he read it over…

(Xehanort's Report 2…)

According to my master, when coming and going between the worlds, the body should be protected from darkness with armor; however, whenever I use the Strange Dimension Corridor, I have noticed a strong presence flow into me so I have stopped wearing armor. It may be the case that my body is being consumed by darkness, but should I gain even the power to control darkness, it will not be something for me to fear.

The world is large and inhabited by countless beings. The individual worlds are not mutually exclusive with the space-void-like sea called the Strange Dimension, but rather, they are all dotted throughout the Strange Dimension.

Those different worlds often have their own sense of order, and like ourselves, they are unaware of the entirety of this world. As well, we cannot allow the other worlds to come to know this fact.

"What the…" Naruto mumbled while reading the report, then frowned at the bit about the "Strange Dimension Corridors"… "Does it mean Dark-Corridors? And if it does, does that mean if I wore armor I'd be able to safely travel through them? Or does it only mean for Light Beings like Sora and the others?" Naruto wondered to himself before groaning lightly, and then shook his head. "Either way, it doesn't matter… I have more important things to worry about. Like finding Alice and Tira before they get eaten." Naruto said to himself before walking further into the Underworld in his search for Alice and also Tira…

TBC…

AN:

Here's a list of Naruto's Keyblades thus far…

Dark-Heart: A Keyblade with the corrupting Powers of Darkness capable of creating Heartless from anyone cut by its blade. A lightweight Keyblade of the Realm of Darkness perfect for single handed use, due to its function, this weapon is useless against Heartless though is very effective against Somebodies and Soulless.

Soul-Blade: An inherently evil Keyblade with the power to devour souls. A surprisingly light keyblade well suited for singe or double-handed use, perfect for fighting Soulless or Somebodies, though it is all but useless against Heartless.

Gears of Madness: An old Keyblade that once belonged to the Apprentice of Master Xehanort. A Light weight Keyblade that unlike his other blades has the ability to destroy Heartless, though is useless against Unversed… (Changed…)

Vorpal-Key: A Keyblade forged from a shard of the Vorpal-sword, capable of cutting through anything, even a foot of solid steel. A heavy double handed Keyblade, requires two hands to use properly, useless against Heartless and Soulless, but perfect for use against Somebodies and Nobodies…

One-Winged-Angel: Born of the dark powers of Sephiroth, this Keyblade shall cut down all who dare to stand in its way… Thin, light, and for use with a single or even both hands, this Keyblade boast superior power and speed. This wicked key will cut down all things in its path…


	30. Death of Hades

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 29**_: _**Death of Hades**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(Underworld…)

'_I hate this place…'_ Naruto decided while wandering deeper and deeper into the depths of the Underworld. For the passed few hours, Naruto had trudged his way deeper and deeper into the depths, killing monsters, slaughtering demons, and generally destroying anything dumb enough to get in his way. _'I swear, if I ever end up down in this place in another life time, I'm going to kill someone in the most painful way imaginable!'_ The blond thought to himself before blinking as a surreal Deja' vu feeling suddenly hit him…

"Why do I have the strange feeling I've actually done that?" He wondered to himself, clearly confused, before shaking off the feeling and walking further into Hades. His arms crossed over his chest and an annoyed looking frown across his face. The first thirty or so minutes hadn't been so bad actually. He'd started morphing into all manor of different forms. His most useful forms in terms of combat however where the Wolf, Fox, Bat, and Mist forms he could take on. Of course it helped they had uses outside of battle but he mostly used them in battle thus far, or on the few occasions he needed them to get around the depths of Hades.

His Wolf form was useful in speed; it was faster than the other three and could jump long distances. Not only that but its claws and fangs made for wicked weapons, his agility was useful for complex maneuvers and he hated to admit it but wolves had always seemed cool. It also had the ability to channel his Ice Magic through a howl; the "Frozen Howl" was infinitely fun to use on enemies as they ended up looking shocked. The downsides to that form was his size, as he was fairly large as a wolf and easier to hit than in his other forms, and his inability to use his Keyblade to attack. This limited the Wolf-Form greatly as it was fine against normal enemies and the odd few Nobodies he'd encounter, but Soulless and Heartless would be able to tear it apart.

Next was the Bat form. It had advantages in allowing him to fly around, reaching new heights he couldn't have before and dodging around projectiles with surprising ease. It also gave him a bonus in still being fairly quick when compared to his human standards; it was of course light in weight, as well as small enough to avoid most projectiles. The Bat form wasn't his favorite however, as it's lightweight and small size also made it pathetic at any form of physical assault. It could channel his magical attacks, but even then it was at a lesser scale than he'd have liked it to be at…

Then there was the Mist form. Mist was fun to use in almost every way. The only downside was he could only attack with lightning magic in that form. Being insubstantial it could allow him to pass through the cracks of certain walls, he could hover and never receive damage while he rested mid-battle, and of course their was also the added amusement of the fact he could pass through minuet cracks in the floor and move around as well. Of course it still had the major downside of not being able to attack anything, but even he understood the need for a plan in battle, and the Mist form could give him enough of a breather to think things through…

Then last, but not least was his most annoying form, that of a four-tailed fox… It wasn't that the form was hard to use, nor was it that it was useless, rather quite to the opposite if he'd admit it to himself. The fox form was larger than the bat, thus able to deal real physical damage to someone other than as an annoyance, its claws and fangs were also equally useful in battle, like the wolf, but its small size and lighter weight allowed it to move weave and dodge around enemies with surprising speed. The Wolf Form was still faster, however the bulky wolf could only reach high speeds when it would run in a straight line and plow through enemies.

The Fox also somehow had the ability to hold a Keyblade in its mouth; Naruto suspected it was the size of the Wolf form's muzzle in correlation to the guard on a Keyblade that didn't allow it to do so. However, regardless, the Fox was able to use a Keyblade, swinging its neck to crack the blade and even using it as a way to trip enemies in mid-step. The tails were also a boon, loath, as he was to admit it, as he could wrap them around things, such as stalagmites / stalactites and swing on them, or even swing around corners with them.

Also, the Fox-Form could use Dark-Fire magic with startling proficiency. He'd even been able to throw fireballs with his tails for Kami's sake! Not only that but he'd been able to spit fire, curl into a ball like some kind of wheel and allow a large flaming burst of it to form, swing his tales to create an arc of flames, jump then stomp on the ground to cause fire to flow over the ground like Axel could do, and even ram into enemies and set them fire on contact.

In terms of cons, the Fox had less than the others. It wasn't as fast as the wolf when it was in clear open terrain, nor as physically able bodied. It could swing yes, but it couldn't fly like the bat and allow him to move up higher when it was needed. The Mist form clearly beat it out when it came to being able to rest as nothing could hurt his mist form and he'd be able to take a quick breather in mid-battle. Also adding onto the cons was that the Fox-Form was also the easiest to harm in all out combat unlike the burly wolf or tiny bat, any damage done to the Bat would be fatal of course, but it was so small and out of the way he wouldn't have to worry, the Fox didn't have that edge…

Basically, the Fox form had more pros than cons, but the stigma he had for foxes made it his most annoying form. The fact it was clearly a "Kitsune", a Yonbi-no-Kitsune to be precise, rather than an ordinary fox didn't help his annoyance any either. Thoughts of the Kyuubi still annoyed him even with the fox finally gone. Of course given he was thought to be the fox in human form most of his life didn't help him much with that dislike of the form either… But the fact that now he was able to turn into the same damn creature just didn't sit well with him.

Shaking his head, Naruto scowled while walking deeper into Hades, wishing for the millionth time he had some kind of map or guide for this place. Stopping as he approached a wall, Naruto noticed the sounds of voices and narrowed his eyes before walking over to it. At the wall was a large crack and through the crack, Naruto could see Alice, Tira, and surprisingly enough Kratos, walking around as well.

"When do you think we'll find Master?" Tira asked with a pout and Kratos scowled deeply, twitching slightly in annoyance. Judging by his posture and the look on his face, Naruto could guess she'd been asking that for the better part of their time together recently.

"I've already told you five times before wench! I don't know!" Kratos roared and Tira smirked slightly, obviously just wanting to get a rise out of the God of war for some reason or another…

"Oh, okay." She responded with a grin and Kratos grit his teeth in anger before crossing his arms over his chest. Near to him, Alice was shaking her head, a dull look to her eyes as she absently picked her nails with her Vorpal Blade…

"Insufferable wench." Kratos muttered and Alice, who seemed to have long given up speaking to him, sighed softly.

"At this rate we won't find Naruto before doomsday…" She mumbled and then heard a snicker and turned to the crack and saw Naruto. "Oh never mind, he's over there." She noted and Tira turned, then grinned brightly while rushing over to her current Master.

"Master! Look I found Alice for you!" Tira said with a grin and Naruto nodded his head slowly. "Oh yeah, and I also found this guy…" Tira added with a scowl while pointing her thumb over to Kratos. Said "Ghost of Sparta" growled towards the girl before stomping over to give Naruto a cold glare.

"Yo Kratos, long time no see. How's the war against the Gods going for you?" Naruto questioned from his side of the crack and Kratos merely grunted for a moment with a deep frown on his face.

"Not as well as I would hope. My other allies decided to betray me and now I'm trapped in these pits with Hades out for my skin." Kratos replied one eye twitching violently and Naruto slowly nodded his head. "Which is why I decided to aide these two wretched women, they are annoying but you proved yourself to be of some use as an ally to me before." Kratos stated and Tira's eyes flared while Alice scowled at the remark.

"You don't talk to Master that way!" Tira roared out and Naruto had to reach through the crack and pull Tira back from Kratos. "Master?" Tira questioned with obvious confusion on her face and Naruto sighed for a moment.

"Tira… that is about as close as Kratos will come to complimenting anyone… lets take it in good faith. We need his help to get out of here and he considers me a worthy enough ally, that's good enough for the moment." Naruto stated and then frowned when he remembered his little fight with Hades earlier. "Not to mention Hades already tried to kill me once, if not more times, down here…" Naruto then grumbled and Kratos frowned deeply, easily able to see what had happened.

"Hades separated you two so he could kill you off one at a time. In your case he sent someone, in Tira's he led her to me so I would kill her…" Kratos mused and then scowled while looking upwards, fury clear in his eyes. "Hades you coward! Did you really think your plan would work? I am through doing the bidding of the Gods!" Kratos roared out and Alice looked at him strangely before Hades laughter echoed out across the underworld, Naruto's eyes narrowing dangerously.

"_**Ahhh, Kratos. I was wondering when you'd start yelling at me…"**_ Hades mused and Naruto snorted before watching Kratos scowl deeply towards the heavens while Alice looked all around.

"What in heavens name is going on? That was most certainly not the voice I normally hear talking to me…" Alice stated and Naruto felt that it was reaffirmed that Alice was indeed still somewhat insane even after all this time… and he'd kind of hoped she'd be normal now too…

"Enough talk, why do you not face me coward? Instead you attack a child and send a pathetic wench to her death by my blade?" Kratos demanded and Naruto felt Tira struggle to slice at him and, by some small miracle, managed to move his other arm through the hole at an awkward position and pull her back up against the wall. Naruto himself had to reframe from releasing Tira for the barb / insult from Kratos… as it seemed the bald man also would never change…

"_**Attack a child? Oh… you must mean the Dark-Keybearer don't you, Kratos… last I checked he wasn't a child… in most ways."**_ Hades mused aloud and Naruto twitched while wondering what THAT was supposed to mean. _**"As for that bitch of a servant of Soul-Edge, I was hoping she could at least tire you out some… of course watching a little girl like that Princess blow you and her up was just so very amusing, Kratos."**_ Hades then noted with a laugh and Kratos seethed in rage while looking towards Alice furiously, the said girl ignoring it while buffing her nails on her dress.

"Enough Hades! Show yourself and face me like a warrior!" Kratos demanded and Hades scoffed for a moment.

"_**Kratos, Kratos, Kratos, you still haven't learned any patience I see… now if you want to see me, then by all means… come see me, and meet your doom!"**_ Hades boomed while Naruto heard something and Kratos stomped over to the side and looked into the distance. What he saw was a massive gateway opening, and what looked like a palace… clearly Hades home.

"It would see we now know the way." Kratos muttered before turning to where Naruto was still holding back Tira. "Boy, is there any way over to us from your side?" Kratos questioned and a smirk formed across Naruto's lips before he breathed out… and formed into Mist that literally encompassed Tira's form for a moment. He then passed her, the girl swaying slightly as if dizzy while Naruto slowly reformed before Kratos, a smirk across his face.

"Bloody hell!" Alice said in shock and Naruto looked to her with equal shock.

"You just swore!" Naruto said while looking at her, Tira looking at her strangely as well and Alice blinked before blushing.

"Oh my… I do believe I've been around miss Larxene a might bee too much." Alice noted and Kratos twitched slightly before shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest.

"So you've learned new skills since last we met, good, we will need them against Hades." Kratos stated before turning on his heel and walking down the path to Hadea' Palace, Naruto shrugging his shoulders before following him. "What other forms can you take?" Kratos questioned without stopping and a grin formed across Naruto's face.

"Anything more or less, but in the heat of battle I find it easiest to become a Wolf, a Fox, a Bat, and Mist. Larger forms are hard to stay in for some reason, though I can mimic any human or at least humanoid creature perfectly as far as I know." Naruto replied and Kratos reached up and rubbed his chin, Tira and Alice walking behind the two men slowly.

"What are your capabilities in those forms?" Kratos questioned as they continued further into the Underworld and Naruto crossed his arms behind his neck.

"My wolf form has Ice magic, size and speed on its side, also more muscle than the others, though it can't use a Keyblade due to the size of its muzzle. My Mist form is incorporeal and allows physical attacks to pass through me, while I can also form lightning through it. My Bat form is the least physical, but can fly and I can channel some lightning through it. My Fox form is strictly combat, more agile than the wolf form and has a high proficiency with Fire attacks." Naruto explained, though scowled at the explanation for his Kitsune-form as far as he was concerned while Kratos narrowed his eyes in thought.

"The Wolf and Fox will be the most useful against Hades in combat, his attacks don't harm the body as badly as one might believe, rather, he steals the soul with them…" Kratos said gravely and Naruto grimaced slightly, kind of wishing he still had Kyuubi so Hades could take its soul piece by piece instead of his.

"Excuse me, but if that is true then why did you feel the need to antagonize him?" Alice questioned of Kratos incredulously and Naruto snickered while Tira smirked towards Kratos. Said man scowled and then gave the dark haired girl a fierce glare before turning to Naruto.

"Keep your wench in check boy…" He grumbled before walking off and Naruto blinked while Alice gaped at his back.

"Now see here, Sir! I am most certainly not anyone's "Wench"! And I refuse for you to ever refer to me with such a vile name ever again!" Alice said while stomping her way towards Kratos while a clearly amused Tira watched on, Naruto shaking his head as he saw the look on the girls face.

"Having fun?" Naruto asked and Tira nodded her head silently as they followed after a now ranting Alice, and clearly annoyed Kratos…

(Radiant Garden…)

Mickey and Aqua cursed themselves mentally for not stopping Vanitas, but they were even more miffed about the Unversed. They, like a Heartless, were negative creatures, however unlike a Heartless they were much harder to kill. This was because they were mostly made up of negative energy rather than Darkness, and such a thing usually meant that not only would they feed and grow off of more negative thoughts and emotions, but positive ones could quickly destroy them… however, the problem with them was that in battle it was hard to keep your emotions completely in check. Thus, they were still fighting the damn things.

Also adding to the problem was Leon, while he was often calm and collected, it was clear to Aqua he had some pent up negativity, as did that Zack guy, and the Pink haired girl, the silver haired man, and even Ansem himself. This in itself meant that the Unversed were feeding off of them even now and transferring the energy they collected to Vanitas when they were finally destroyed… annoying, but it wasn't something she couldn't deal with. Twisting around a lunge from an Unversed, Aqua swung her key, instantly destroying it while turning in a spin and moving into a crouch, stabbing back with the blade as she did.

Oddly enough however, her newest companion, who was known only as "Spawn" to her, gave off no sorts of negative emotions in battle, in fact, he was cold. He was actually too cold in her own opinion, for no one should be able to close off themselves so… effortlessly. Right now Spawn was moving like a demon, he was focusing on using some odd looking attack with one hand. The attack seemed to concentrate Darkness into his hand; the shadows would twist and move before he would then ram it into and then straight through an Unversed. This method destroyed the Unversed utterly, and seemed to use a relatively small amount of energy.

Admittedly, she was wary of any creature so in-tuned with the Darkness, but admittedly, Spawn was… odd, at least as far as Dark-Creatures went. He had emotions, he seemed to cling to a small, single shred of light that had been buried in his heart. His soul and body were gone, but bits and pieces of who he had been still remained. Ducking as an Unversed nearly took off her head, Aqua cursed herself mentally for loosing track of where she was. Crouching and lunging into the fray, Aqua channeled some energy into her Key, a stream of light formed off of it and into what could pass as a Light Sword of some kind which she then used to slice threw a few Unversed while coming out in a rolling crouch.

Meanwhile, "Spawn" was not having a good day in any way shape or form. Not only had he somehow landed them in a fairly large gathering of light beings. Which he was now man enough to admit scared the crap out of him… ugh, Irony. But also these annoying Unversed things just didn't know when to quit! They had an ability to coordinate with one another obviously, unlike how most Heartless used instincts, but Soulless were more coordinated, and Nobodies were clearly smarter than them. Ducking under a jumping attack, Spawn then rolled back and flipped over the Unversed as another came at him from the front.

Landing on all fours, Spawn wondered what he could do with his annoying "Cape / Shroud" so it wouldn't be in his way and blinked as it suddenly shifted around his form. It somehow managed to wrap around his body, the flames dying out before leaving odd blue Tattoos over his obsidian black skin. The Tattoo's formed into hearts at his shoulders, forearms, around the hole in his torso, and oddly enough over his knees. However added to that was a blue strap with several pouches on his right bicep, another on his left thigh, and what looked like a blue variation of the normal Heartless Emblem at the center of his waist with black Chains wrapping around his waist like a belt …

Blinking in surprise for only a brief moment, Spawn then smirked to himself… well he did the closest equivalent to it at least. He then lunged forward, swinging his arms around wildly and slicing through Unversed with his claws. The young Heartless soon found he had taken out a long stretch of them and slid to a stop as he neared Mickey and the king turned towards him. There was a terse silence as they stared at one another until Spawn narrowed his eyes as did Mickey and the Heartless lunged passed him, killing an Unversed behind the king

"_**You should be more careful… something could sneak up on you…"**_ Spawn noted in his usual growling tone and Mickey frowned before smirking towards him. Swinging his Keyblade, Mickey destroyed an Unversed behind Spawn and the Heartless blinked slightly in surprise as the king grinned.

"Seems like you should do the same." He retorted with his Keyblade across his shoulders and Spawn grunted before narrowing his eyes. The amount of Unversed that had formed around them was surprising, and oddly enough, more and more were constantly popping up as time went on.

"_**Why do more keep coming?"**_ Spawn wondered aloud and Mickey frowned while looking around, then looked to the strange Heartless. Mickey was well aware that a rare few friendly Heartless existed, most however were either weak or choose to stay out of the way. Some did upgrade Sora's spells once, and a few other friendly Heartless would stay out of his way, most of them being in the "Mushroom" class of Heartless.

This one on the other hand was odd in more ways than any other he'd ever seen; its form closely resembled a human's after all, though with the obvious features of a Pure-Blood Heartless, and now strangely it had created an Emblem at its waist… Mickey had to wonder just what it was. Not to mention he could still clearly talk, which only Xehanort's Heartless "Ansem" had been able to do before, though Mickey supposed it was actually his heart speaking.

Thus he figured that the painful sounding growl of a voice he had wasn't actually his voice, but rather how his emotions came out, thus he was clearly in a great deal of emotional pain either before, after, or during his becoming a Heartless. This was also odd if he was a Friendly type, or perhaps just a special case like Sora's own heartless transformation had been.

"Don't know, but we don't have time to waste standing around, c'mon!" King-Mickey ordered before lunging into the fray and Spawn blinked before sighing softly.

"_**Troublesome mouse… don't order me around…"**_ Spawn grumbled under his breath before lunging behind Mickey on all fours and then jumped over the mouse and slammed his hand into the ground. As a result, Spawn was surprised when several spikes of Darkness shot out of the ground and impaled several Unversed instantly… _**"Cool… how'd I do that?"**_ Spawn wondered while looking at his hands and Mickey blinked for a moment before adding that this Heartless wasn't instinctually based.

"Not sure, but lets find out later." Mickey stated and Spawn reluctantly nodded his head before lunging back into the fray.

Nearby, Leon grunted while he, Aerith, and Zack protected Ansem the Wise from the near never-ending onslaught of Unversed. _'Almost wish I'd brought Yuffie with me now… almost.'_ Leon thought to himself while Aerith healed him of his fatigue while Zack blocked an incoming Unversed before kicking it back and into a few others. Grunting, Leon leaned his Gun-blade along his shoulders and fired a fireball into the incoming mass of Unversed, disrupting their ranks. Kairi chose that moment to lash out at them and then slam her key into the ground, forming a burst of light that atomized the Unversed instantly.

"Not bad kid, I'm going to have to learn that one." Zack noted with a grin and Kairi blushed slightly with a nervous chuckle before Kakashi jumped over to them and threw several Kunai into the Unversed swarm, taking out several more.

"Would you people please focus?" Kakashi demanded and Leon mentally agreed with him on that matter.

"Lighten up…" Zack mumbled while Sakura roared out while slamming a fist into the ground, metal buckling under her enormous strength and sending several of the plates that made up the floor flying into the air, Unversed still on top of them. Blinking as the Unversed were crushed when the plates fell back to the ground, Zack scratched his head for a moment. "Just… how strong is she?" The man questioned and Kakashi sighed for a moment while shaking his head.

"Abnormally so…" The man replied and Kairi nodded her head while Mickey and Aqua came towards them, slashing what seemed to be the last of the Unversed. Turning around to either side for a moment, Mickey then nodded his head while Spawn slowly narrowed his eyes on Sakura.

"Well that looks like the last of them fellows." Mickey mused while Sasuke lunged at Sakura, flipped over her and kicked two more Unversed into a wall. Grunting for a moment, Spawn then lunged at the Unversed, slashing into them to finally finish them off before turning to give Mickey a clearly annoyed look. "Uh… correction, NOW that's the last of them." Mickey mused with a nervous grin while Sakura took several steps away from Spawn as he slowly stood up.

"_**You seem… unnerved… is my presence that frightening to you?"**_ Spawn questioned of Sakura with a tilt of his head while looking at the Rosette and she blinked before shivering.

"Yeah well… sort of. After all, as far as I knew you wanted to eat me when you came charging at me like that." She reminded him flatly and a clearly pained look crossed Spawn's features before he turned, his flaming cloak forming back over his body.

"_**Really now… then do you hate me that much?"**_ Spawn questioned of the rosette softly and Sakura blinked for a moment while staring at the strange creature.

"Not you specifically, I just don't really like ANY of you Heartless… you did kind of destroy my world after all…" She replied with a slight frown and Spawn shook his head and turned around to face Sakura while Kakashi walked over to the two and stared daggers at the creature.

"She has a point." Kakashi noted while staring at Spawn and then crossed his arms over his chest. "So what makes you so different from other Heartless that you're actually relatively 'friendly'?" Kakashi questioned with a raised brow and Spawn's eyes fell, the shadows of his cloak seeming to wrap around his body as he did.

"_**I was once a beast… a man consumed in Darkness… I betrayed my friends for Power. I nearly killed someone who considered me a brother. I destroyed anyone who stood in my way to vengeance. And worse still, I tried to kill the ghost of a little girl, who was… burned alive by her own mother…"**_ Spawn admitted softly, Mickey looking towards the Heartless in shock wondering who in their right mind could do all that without being a Heartless before hand.

"It would seem that the Dark-Worlds breed some of the worst of all Somebody's…" Ansem noted mostly to himself while stroking his chin with a frown and Spawn sighed softly.

"_**I'm beginning to notice that myself…"**_ Spawn admitted before rubbing his face and Kakashi narrowed his eye, something about his past, sans the last part, sounded awfully familiar to him. _**"But as for why I'm like this. The Dark-Worlds also have a Key-Bearer, he was once my best friend, and protected the ghost of the girl. He fought me fiercely, he defeated me, and then finally… he threw my heart into Darkness as punishment for what I had become."**_ Spawn explained once more and Kairi looked to Mickey who grimaced for a moment.

"From the sounds of it that must be Sora's Other." Mickey noted and Kairi's eyes widening in shock while Aqua blinked then frowned slightly at that admission.

"Alright, but that still doesn't explain your intelligence, nor your "Friendly" attitude thus far." Leon reminded while leaning his Gun-Blade along his shoulders and Spawn twitched slightly.

"_**Have any of you ever heard of patience?"**_ He questioned flatly and Zack snickered as Leon scowled towards the Heartless, just itching to chop it into pieces for the crack. _**"Now then, when I fell into Darkness, I started to forget. People. Names. Places… I started to forget my family, my home… who I was. Nothing remained of me, nothing at all. But then I heard my friends voice, and I saw a brief light… my memories returned, and I found myself with Ansem and Aqua."**_ Spawn finished at last and Mickey wondered if the same was what made other Heartless friendly…

"Sounds like your heart and his are connected somehow." Aqua noted and Spawn blinked before nodding his head slowly, it always seemed he and Naruto were somehow connected, not to mention the guy seemed to stick to you like a fungus at times…

"So, in life you were a monster, and now, as a Heartless, you seek redemption?" Aerith questioned and Spawn backed up and fell into the shadows of his cloak, something about that woman was even more blinding than Aqua, which was saying something.

"_**Redemption is only attainable by those who are worthy of it. As such I don't seek redemption. I was once a Monster in all but form, and now, I am truly a monster. What I seek is only to aide Aqua and Ansem, in that way I hope to rid myself of my past and seek out a new life."**_ Spawn replied and Aerith shook her head while lacing her fingers together and gave the Heartless a look.

"Redemption is always attainable to those who seek it. Worth has nothing to do with it." She stated and then raised a brow as Spawn sunk in on himself, raising an arm as if to shield himself from her.

"Spawn, why do you keep flinching and acting like your getting too much sun in your eyes?" Aqua questioned of the Heartless and he grunted slightly.

"_**I… can see the light in you… and her… and the girl…"**_ Spawn replied while pointing to Aqua, Aerith, and then Kairi. _**"In you three, and the mouse, its truly a blinding sight to look upon. And looking upon the light from all of you at once is practically painful to one such as myself."**_ Spawn replied and Aqua blinked before looking to Spawn with a sympathetic expression and Leon shook his head.

"As truly interesting as it is to know Heartless find Light that painful, I think we need to remember we have a bit of a situation with that Vanitas guy on the loose." Leon stated and Mickey and Aqua both nodded their heads. "Now then, if you wouldn't mind coming to the computer room Ansem sir, I think your expertise on Darkness and its ilk are going to be especially useful to us." Leon then questioned and Ansem nodded before rubbing his chin for a moment and turned to Mickey.

"Mickey my old friend, would it be too much trouble to ask you to call Sora and Riku here?" Ansem questioned and Mickey frowned while crossing his arms.

"Unfortunately those two are out amongst the worlds looking for pages of Xehanort's research…" Mickey replied and Aqua's head practically snapped over to the mouse who grimaced. _'Oh right… she has that thing with Master-Xehanort…'_ Mickey remembered, at least considering what the Forgotten Longing had said earlier.

"Xehanort? He's still alive?" Aqua demanded and Mickey held up his hands to the bluenette before sighing softly.

"Sort of, the Xehanort I'm talking about was one of Ansem's students, he was brilliant… but he did experiments with the darkness. Not to mention he sort of looked like a really tan, silver haired version of, Terra." Mickey explained before noting to himself and didn't see Aqua's eyes widen before she shivered.

"Regardless Mickey, you do not need to seek the pages to Xehanort's Research. I took them myself after I learned of what my students were up too." Ansem stated while reaching into his cloak and removed several pages from its depths. Blinking, Mickey took the pages and looked them over before stopping on one page in particular.

"Princesses of… Shadowed Hearts?" He wondered to himself and Kairi moved over to his side and looked over his shoulder. "Princesses born to balance the Princesses of Hearts, the Other's to the Princesses of the Purest Heart. As the Princesses of Heart typically live in light and gain happiness, Princesses of Shadowed Hearts must fight to survive." Mickey said aloud and Kairi's eyes widened before a sad look crossed her features and Ansem crossed his arms behind his back.

"I took more interest in the other research notes in those… they reveal a great deal of most troubling information…" Ansem stated while looking down to Mickey and the mouse frowned for a moment before looking up to the blond man.

"Right then. I'll send a note to Sora and Goofy, and Riku and Donald to get here as soon as possible." Mickey stated and Ansem the wise nodded his head before looking over to Leon.

"Now can we go to the computer room? I'd really like to know what's going on around here…" Leon grumbled out, Zack shaking his head behind him while Ansem mutely nodded his head before walking with Leon, Aerith and Zack up the stairs.

Aqua then looked to Mickey after a moments hesitation and the mouse grinned before following the group as well. Turning, the bluenette looked back to Spawn and saw he was still looking away from her for some reason. "Coming Spawn?" She asked the Heartless and Spawn bowed his head slightly before looking over to Sakura and Kakashi.

"_**In a moment…"**_ He replied and Aqua looked to the two as well before making her way to the stairs to follow after the others. Mentally sighing, Spawn then turned to face the two Shinobi and flinched when he looked to Sakura. _'If she knew who I once was, I wonder if she'd pound my face in for all the hell I've put her and Naruto through… or probably hug me?'_ Spawn wondered to himself while Sakura stared at him for a moment before sighing.

"Alright listen, I don't like Heartless, and you don't like light. But just so long as you don't try to attack myself or anyone else I know, I'll leave you alone. Got it bub?" The rosette questioned while poking Spawn in the chest and she was slightly unnerved as his Glasgow grin got even wider. Inside of his mind, Spawn couldn't help but shake his head and wonder if some small part of Naruto had somehow rubbed off on the rosette. _'Not sure if I should really care either…'_ He mused and then walked a little closer to her and stood directly in front of the rosette.

"_**Sakura…"**_ Spawn then said and the rosette looked at him strangely, she'd never mentioned her name to him after all. The Heartless then placed a single clawed finger to her forehead and looked her in the eyes for a moment. _**"You're still annoying…"**_ Spawn stated to a now wide-eyed girl before chuckling lightly as he lowered his raised arm and walked passed her and an equally wide-eyed Kakashi, then up the flight of stairs to find the others…

Meanwhile, Sakura stood motionless for a few moments before finally breaking out of her daze, a single name passing her lips. "Sasuke…?" Sakura wondered while turning towards where the Heartless had gone and Kakashi sighed. Why did things always have to be so complicated in his life?

(Underworld…)

Naruto walked with Kratos into Hades' Palace, Tira and Alice behind them. Looking up towards a frozen tree with vines crawling up along its length, a massive stone wheel of some kind behind it, a ledge over to the side with a closed gate, and what looked like an enormous statue of Hades before them, Naruto couldn't help a slight frown. _'Somehow… I've got a bad feeling about this place…'_ Naruto thought before hearing the voice of Hades echo out all around them once more.

"_**Welcome Spartan and of course guests as well, come in!"**_ Hades urged while Naruto subconsciously formed OWA into his right hand. _**"Make yourselves at home… after all… you won't be leaving."**_ Hades uttered sinisterly and Naruto had to suppress a shiver at the tone used by the Lord of the dead. _'Clearly that name wasn't given to him just because of his looks…'_ Naruto thought to himself since he could easily imagine Hades ruling over the dead.

"We best make haste." Kratos noted before walking forward, Naruto following after him and Alice looking to Tira.

"Is it just me, or are we willingly going towards the man who just threatened our lives?" Alice suddenly questioned and Tira shrugged her shoulders with an amused smirk before following after her master. Sighing, Alice followed the others and saw Kratos and Naruto looking at the giant wheel.

"This is clearly for opening the gate up there…" Kratos noted and Naruto nodded his head in agreement with the Spartan before clicking his tongue.

"Well, go on then open the gate so we can continue on this suicide course." Alice ordered and got looks from both Kratos and Naruto, making her feel more than a little foolish for some reason.

"These things are never this simple Alice. Even in your world things were always complicated. Most likely when we spin the wheel, it'll slide back down…" Naruto explained and Kratos nodded his head, Tira snickering as Alice blushed and found her shoes very interesting.

"Oh… sorry then. So how do we keep it from lowering back down?" Alice questioned and Naruto hummed in thought for a moment before drumming his fingers along his right bicep.

"We look around and find something." Kratos suddenly said while walking passed Naruto, the blond youth sighing as he marched towards an opening behind them.

"Is he always this rude and grumpy?" Alice suddenly asked Naruto and the blond nodded his head with a frown. Soon enough Naruto watched as Kratos pushed a stack of stone-bricks towards them and whistled.

"That'll do it…" The blond haired youth mumbled before cursing as several clouds of Darkness formed above them, screeching Harpies coming out of them. Growling lightly, Kratos released the bricks allowing them to slide towards Naruto and the others as he pulled his Blades of Exile from his back. Ducking out of the way of the bricks, Naruto then came out of it into a crouch while a slight smirk formed across his lips. "Well girls, looks like things are about to get hectic again!" Naruto noted while forming Soul-Blade and One-Winged-Angel into his hands, Tira grinning as she prepared and Alice frowning before pulling her Jax from her pocket.

"Annoying creatures, I'll give them something to screech about!" Alice stated while throwing her Jax to the ground, the metal weapons flying towards two of the Harpies and slamming through them as her ball bounced at her side. Not one to be out-done, Tira lunged forward, Naruto doing the same before ducking down and allowing Tira to jump off of his back and into the air. Grinning, the insane brunette then spun her ring-blade into a Harpy, while behind her; Naruto launched a Fireball to destroy another.

Nearby Kratos swung his chain-blades into the air, latching them onto one of the screeching bird women, and reeled himself towards the Harpy before slamming his knee into it. Growling, Kratos then grabbed it in midair and threw it at another, causing both to fall to the ground where he brought his heavy body down on top of them, crushing them under his weight. Swinging his arms, blades and chains and all, Kratos then caught another Harpy before twisting around and slammed it into a wall, crushing its body against the heavy stone.

Looking around with some minor annoyance, Kratos noticed as Tira, Naruto, and Alice finished the last of the Harpy's and crossed his arms. "Perhaps you two aren't as useless as I feared…" Kratos muttered while looking to Tira and Alice, both girls growling towards the man even as he passed.

"Me thinks we should stab him in his sleep… what about you miss-Tira?" Alice asked while fingering her Vorpal-Blade with a scowl and Tira cupped her chin for a moment before a sadistic grin grew wide on her face.

"I was thinking more along the lines of castration myself!" She replied cheerfully and Naruto twitched before slowly moving away from the two psychotic girls.

"Note to self, never piss off two insane chicks with a penchant for cutting things into pieces… it's not good for your health." Naruto mumbled to himself before shuddering and saw Kratos throw the wheel from before, heard the gate open above them and Kratos quickly wedged the stone blocks from before into place. Not saying a word, Kratos then walked to the front of the frozen tree and started to climb his way up towards the ledge at the side.

"Hey girls, stop plotting to maim Kratos horribly, we have to keep moving." Naruto shouted to Tira and and Alice, both girls blinking before following Naruto as he made his way up the vines, followed by Alice and Tira. Soon coming to the ledge he'd seen earlier, Naruto hopped onto it and turned. Seeing a nervous look on Alice's face, the blond mentally sighed before moving as close to her as possible without falling. "Don't worry, I'll catch you." Naruto assured and Alice took a breath and fell back into his arms, allowing him to help her to her feet while Tira flipped onto the ledge with a grin.

Turning to Kratos, Naruto walked beside the man as they entered the next room, only to hear a sound as Hades voice echoed out. _**"Your pain is my pleasure!"**_ He cried out before two Minotaur and several Hellhounds started to crawl out of the ground.

"Tira, Alice, deal with the dogs while me and Kratos handle the bulls!" Naruto stated while forming his Keyblades in hand, holding Soul-Blade in a reverse grip with One-Winged-Angel in the normal grip. Sighing slightly as Kratos and Naruto lunged at the two Minotaurs, Alice looked over to Tira and gave her a look as two of the Hellhounds came their way.

"Ready?" Alice questioned while readying her Vorpal-Blade and Tira grinned cruelly towards the dogs.

"Alright puppies, time to play!" Tira replied more to the dogs themselves before lunging forward and swinging her Ring-Blade into one of the Hellhounds. Behind her, Alice rolled her eyes for a moment before throwing her Vorpal-Blade, nailing a Hellhound between the eyes. Sighing for only a moment she then blinked as two more started to crawl out of the ground…

"Well this isn't good…" She mumbled before pulling her Razor-Cards out of her pockets and started to hurl them at the Hellhounds…

Meanwhile, Naruto and Kratos ran straight for the Minotaurs, Naruto ducking to the side of one before slicing into its knee with Soul-Blade, forcing it to its knees before he turned and stabbed his One-Winged-Angel keyblade into its back. The Minotaur cried out as he did and Naruto then started to climb up the Minotaur's back with his Keyblades, and then halted as the beast thrashed about while trying to reach him. Hanging on for dear life, Naruto gritted his teeth as the bull man began to buck and thrash about in its attempts to get him off of it.

Kratos on the other hand walked towards his Minotaur and narrowed his eyes as it dragged one hoof along the ground. "Come, face your end!" Kratos roared out while falling into a stance and the Minotaur roared while lunging forward. Its heavy footfalls echoed in the small room only for Kratos to raise his right arm, knocking the Minotaur back with the Golden Fleece and causing it to slam into a wall. Scoffing, Kratos then lunged forward, ramming his shoulder into the Minotaur and slamming it further into the wall before sliding back as it swung one of its arms at him.

Scowling deeply, Kratos narrowed his eyes and formed The Bow of Apollo into his hands before rapidly firing several arrows into the Minotaur. The beast raised its arms to block the assault and Kratos took that moment to charge some energy into the bow. Pulling back on the string as far as he could he then sent a flaming Arrow sailing straight into the Minotaur's chest. Turning to the side, as the beast was set aflame, Kratos saw Naruto riding the Minotaur and raised a brow as the blond grabbed hold of its head by its large horns.

Raising a brow, Kratos then moved out of the way as Naruto forced the Minotaur to charge and ram right into the flaming one. The horn of the first Minotaur pierced into the flaming one and Naruto quickly flipped off of its back as it tried to throw off the dying Minotaur. Scoffing, Kratos watched as the Minotaur threw off the body of its fallen kin before roaring loudly towards him. Gripping his Blades of Exile as the Minotaur dragged its hoof along the ground, the ashen-skinned man waited until it lunged at him with a roar.

Sneering, the former God-of-War caught the beast around the neck and brought it down to his level. Gritting his teeth Kratos moved one of his blades towards the beast but it grabbed his arm, trying to save its life. Narrowing his eyes, Kratos reared his arm back for but a moment before stabbing his blade into the mouth of the Minotaur. Blood flew from the wound and coated Kratos' arm, the Spartan warrior ignoring it as he then threw the now dead Minotaur's body to the side and placed his blades onto his back.

"Bad ass…" Naruto mumbled with wide eyes and Kratos scoffed before crossing his arms.

"Have your wenches managed to deal with those hounds?" Kratos questioned darkly and Naruto nodded to the side where a VERY angry pair of girls were now glaring at the ashen-skinned warrior. "Good, then we can move forward." Kratos stated before making his way up a large upwards ramp and to the next area of the palace. Sighing softly, Naruto then motioned for Alice and Tira to follow as he went after the Ghost of Sparta, both girls scowling.

"We kill him next chance we get?" Alice asked Tira and the brunette nodded her head silently, while she didn't mind being her Master's wench if he wanted, she just didn't really like Kratos… All thoughts of revenge were stopped however when the group found themselves in a large room, a familiar statue of Hades at the end of the room with its arms to either side and held by massive clamps, a chain leading down into the tree of the room below, and a turnstile before them with a pedestal behind it. Walking forward, Kratos gripped the handle of the Turnstile for a moment before heaving and turning it around while Naruto walked passed him and over to the pedestal.

"An epitaph?" Naruto said to himself before reading what it said aloud, even as the arms to either side of the room were released from their clamps and moved forward, a pair of massive chains bound to their wrists, and something at the end of the chain slowly rose upwards. "Here lies Persephone, Queen of the Underworld and wife to Hades." Naruto read aloud as a golden casket was raised from below, a woman in dark clothing held within while the familiar sound that signaled Hades was about to speak echoed around them.

"_**Now it falls to me to collect payment for the pain you have wrought."**_ Hades voice echoed around them, it wasn't a loud booming tone, no, Naruto heard Ice in this statement, and he also heard a promise for revenge… Kratos merely scoffed at the gods words before looking around and spotted two paths to either side that looked suspicious, frowning for a moment, he then looked to the statue before them and rubbed his chin. Walking beside of Naruto, Kratos swung his Blades of Exile and latched them onto Persephone's casket before rearing it back and slamming it into the arms of the statue.

"Too strong to break…" Naruto noticed before looking to where a ladder had been jarred loose at either side of the room. "Well that's helpful…" Naruto muttered before looking around and then crossed his arms, turning to Tira he looked the girl over for a few moments. "Tira, do you think you and Alice could push this Turnstile for us?" Naruto questioned and the girl looked thoughtful for a few moments before grinning.

"Of course master." She replied chipperly and Naruto slowly nodded his head, not really that surprised before looking over to Kratos.

"You figure there are turnstiles or something up there to move the arms as well?" Naruto questioned and Kratos mutely nodded his head with a deep scowl on his face. "Right then, Tira I want you to await my signal and turn the turnstile, think you can do that for us?" Naruto questioned and Tira nodded her head with a smile on her face as she sauntered over to the device and gripped the handle.

"Now for us." Kratos said while making his way to the left and Naruto rolled his eyes before going over to the right. Climbing the ladder, Naruto then jumped up into a room of some sort and saw a wheel like on the first floor. Humming, Naruto walked to the side and looked down to see Tira and Alice below, then looked to the side and saw Kratos had gotten in position.

"Ready Kratos?" Naruto questioned loudly and the man rolled his eyes for a moment.

"Just be on with it already!" He shouted back and Naruto grinned despite himself.

"Alright Tira, Alice, you heard him! Let her rip!" Naruto shouted and Tira gripped the Turnstile with Alice before both heaved forward, slowly turning it while Naruto and Kratos moved over to the wheels. Listening for a few moments, they soon heard a loud click and the turnstiles grinding cease.

"All done now, Master!" Tira shouted and Naruto gripped the wheel before throwing it upwards, causing it to spin. Kratos did the same on his side and instantly, both arms moved to the sides before the large clamps closed in on them. Grinning to himself, Naruto then made his way back down to the ground and ran over to the girls while Kratos calmly made his way over.

"Nice work Tira, Alice." Naruto said with a nod and Alice smiled slightly, only to scowl as Tira bowed.

"It was nothing master." She said and Naruto rubbed the back of his neck while Kratos walked over to the casket holding Persephone.

"Now we end this chase." The former God-of-War growled out while throwing his Blades-of-Exile forward and hooked them into the casket. Growling out a roar, the bald man then reared the casket back and slammed it into the statue of Hades. The room shook from the force of the blow, Naruto grimacing as he could only imagine how pissed off Hades was going to be about this. Kratos however paid it no mind as he reared his arms back and slammed the casket into the statue yet again. Roaring out loudly, Kratos then reared the casket back a final time, then jumped up on top of it as it smashed through the statue, revealing a hidden entryway.

"Tira, I want you to stay her and keep an eye on Alice. I'm going to help Kratos." Naruto ordered before throwing the Gears of Madness from his cloak and rode on top of it, soon falling into the same opening as Kratos. Soon landing in a dark room with only a circle of light around him, Naruto noticed Kratos to his side and frowned.

"_**Kratos…"**_ Hades voice suddenly echoed and Naruto quickly formed Soul-Blade and One-Winged-Angel into his hands. _**"I'm so glad you could find time for us."**_ Hades uttered, putting emphasis on the US in his statement and making Naruto blink. _'Is he… trying to tell us something?'_ Naruto wondered before looking around, noticing that Hades didn't sound like he was echoing, which probably meant that he was close by…

"Show yourself Hades!" Kratos cried out while griping the handles of his Blades-of-Exile tightly, a snarl across his face.

"_**All in due time… you know, we've sensed some bad blood between us Kratos."**_ Hades mused and Naruto noticed he said we again, making him wonder if perhaps Hades was trying to tell Kratos something… _**"Ohh… all the memories! They're overwhelming really. Lets see… how many sins have you committed against me?"**_ Hades wondered aloud, the anger in his voice rising as he said ME rather than we or us. _**"Oh that's right, you murdered my niece, Athena!"**_ Hades voice uttered darkly, his anger palpable in his tone and Naruto grimacing as he did so.

"_**Oh and what else, what else…?"**_ Hades wondered his anger rising in his tone with every word he uttered, a noticeable strain coming too. _**"Oh yes, you and your friend there murdered my brother, Poseidon!"**_ He growled out and Naruto blinked, easily remembering that Hades didn't seem to care about that before… _**"And I have not forgotten that it was you that butchered my beautiful queen!"**_ Hades rumbled out and Naruto winced in sympathy, hearing the true pain and heartache in the god's tone.

"_**Now I will see you suffer as I have suffered!"**_ Hades uttered darkly, Naruto crouching into a stance beside a wary Kratos. _**"Your soul is mine!"**_ Hades growled out while the two warriors suddenly found themselves in total cave darkness… However, Naruto then heard the sounds of heavy footfalls as Hades came up from behind them. Given that the god had grown to be around fifteen feet tall, his skin had taken a blood like color, with chunks of it missing, and his strange helmet and hooked chains both gave off a sinister glow managed to give the "God" a more demonic appearance.

'_What the hell… what happened to you Hades? You didn't look this bad the last time I saw you…'_ Naruto noticed before taking a step back, Kratos turning around towards the massive god. Unlike many "Villains" from the worlds of Light or even some from the many worlds of Darkness, Hades didn't utter any more taunting words to either of them, instead he simply swung one of his chains at Kratos and started to yank a strange looking purplish aura from him.

"Ten to one that's his soul…" Naruto said to himself before rearing his left arm back and threw Soul-Blade straight at Hades, nailing him in the helmet and causing him to release Kratos from his grasp. Stumbling back for only a second, Hades then roared out while lifting one foot into the air. Cursing lightly, Naruto rolled to the side, knocking Kratos out of the way as Hades slammed his foot into the ground. Coming to a halt, Naruto dug Soul-Blade into the ground to slow himself while Kratos got up with a grunt and scowled towards Hades.

Lunging towards the God of The Underworld, Kratos swung his Blades of Exile, fire trailing behind them as the blades sliced into Hades legs. However the God of the Underworld was barely affected by the assault, instead raising his foot and nearly crushing Hades under his foot as he rolled to the side. Flipping onto his feet, Naruto lunged towards Hades as well, only to curse and jump to the side as Hades swung one of his hooked chains down towards him and Kratos.

Narrowing his eyes on Hades, Naruto formed a ball of ice in one hand before throwing it into the Gods back. Hades grunted as the ball of ice hit him from behind, then twisted on his heel and swung one of his hooked chains low to the ground. Cursing, Naruto jumped up, changing into a bat to evade the blade and fly up into the air. Flying around, Naruto stopped his bat form in the air and spat out a ball of fire into Hades head, however he merely chuckled at the strike before lifting one of his hooked chains and flailing it towards the bat.

Moving higher into the air to evade the attack, Naruto started to rapidly flap his wings, forming dozens of icicles that flew towards Hades, pelting the God of the Underworld. Grunting and stepping back from the attack, Hades roared out as Kratos then lashed out at his legs from the side. Grunting, Hades took a step back as blood flowed from the wounds only for a moment before they sealed up. Roaring out, Hades then slammed his hooked chains into the ground, Kratos rolling back to evade the attack before narrowing his eyes on Hades.

Naruto then flew down from above Hades and blasted him from behind with a burst of Anti-Lightning. Grunting, Hades took a step forward where Kratos jumped forward and spun in place with his Blades of Exile lashing out. His flesh was ripped out by the hooked blades, and then seared by the flames only for the wounds slowly sealed shut only a few moments later. Roaring out, Hades then swung his hooks into the air, latching onto the roof to pull himself up. Moving quickly, Naruto evaded the god while reverting back to his human form.

"**Your in my domain now!"** Hades grumbled before releasing his hold of the ceiling and falling back down to the ground. A shockwave hit them and knocked Naruto off his feet while Kratos jumped over it and quickly lunged at the God of the Underworld. Hades growled lowly as he then moved both his hooked chains low to the ground and started to swing them all around. Growling lightly, Kratos jumped over the chains and then lunged at Hades once more. Seeing them coming towards him, Naruto cursed while flipping up, just narrowly evading the hooked chains and landed in a crouch.

Shaking his head, Naruto then saw Kratos roar out as he formed the blade of Olympus in one hand, his tattoo seemingly glowing with power. Lunging forward, Kratos roared out while swinging the weapon, tearing a chunk of Hades leg out with each mighty swipe of the sword and causing him to fall down to one knee as flames rose up over the walls around them. **"A moments pain is nothing!"** Hades stated while Kratos then jumped onto the God, retrieving his Blades-of-Exile before stabbing it into Hades repeatedly. Roaring out as he did, Kratos soon ripped a chunk of Hades flesh out and threw it behind him.

"Destroy it!" Kratos shouted loudly and Naruto formed a ball of ice in his hand before throwing it at the crawling flesh, freezing it in place. Lunging at the flesh once it stopped moving Naruto cursed while black skeletal hands started to reach out of the ground for him.

"Out of my way!" Naruto cried while singing Soul-Blade and One-Winged-Angel, tearing apart the hands until finally slamming his keys into the block of ice that had once been Hades flesh. The God gave a mighty roar as his flesh was destroyed, Kratos jumping off of him as he then roared out in fury. The Gods hooked chains swung in the air as if alive, twining and coiling around his body before he gripped them in his hands and loomed over them ominously.

"**Die!"** Hades hissed out acidically as his hooked chains suddenly flew into the ground then up all around him like a cage. Darkness then started to flow off of Hades and over the floor, splotches of red forming among the darkness before Kratos grabbed Naruto and pulled him to an empty spot. Instantly dozens of spiked razor chains shot out all around them, piecing everything that had been in shadow, Kratos scowling while Naruto gaped for a moment.

"Holy shit… when do I learn how to do something like that?" Naruto had to wonder and got an annoyed look from Kratos before both turned back to Hades as he yanked his chains inward, dispersing the Shadow chains.

"Worry about learning attacks later, we must concentrate on the here and now!" Kratos growled out as Hades roared, then swung his chains up above them, hooking them to the roof. Cursing, Naruto and Kratos both moved out of the way while jumping over the shockwave Hades landing created. Roaring out once more, Hades swung his hooked chains to the other side of the room and lifted himself up again. Growling, Kratos formed his bow and arrow into his hands before firing rapidly into the God of the Underworld even as he fell back to the ground.

Jumping over the shockwave once more, the two quickly lunged at him, Kratos swinging his Blades of Exile from the front. Hades grunted as he did, then roared out while Naruto jumped onto his back and started to dig his Keyblades into him. "Sorry Hades, nothing personal but I really don't want to die yet!" Naruto then said before forming Dark-Heart and stabbed it into Hades from behind. However, the blond was thus shocked when nothing happened, save Hades gabbing him and throwing him to the floor, Naruto groaning lightly as he slowly got back to his feet.

"Fool, Hades is the Lord of The Underworld, Darkness is his realm, and it can no more change him than it could Morpheus!" Kratos shouted at Naruto and the blond groaned before getting back up, replacing Dark-Heart with One-Winged-Angel.

"Now you tell me…" Naruto muttered only for Hades to throw his hooked chains into the air and drop down again. Rolling out of the way and flipping over the shockwave, Naruto landed in a crouch beside of Kratos. "Dammit, how tough is this guy anyways?" Naruto demanded and Kratos rolled his eyes before lunging at Hades once more, roaring out as he swung his Blades of Exile, tearing out chunks of flesh from the God of The Underworld. Growling, Hades lifted a foot and stomped down, nearly crushing Kratos while the shockwave from his heavy step knocked the former God of War to the side.

"You only live once…" Naruto mumbled to himself while lunging forward, rolling to the side to evade a hooked chain as Hades swung it down at him. Rolling forward as another nearly got him; Naruto then sliced OWA through Hades leg, causing him to fall down to one knee for a moment.

"Boy, catch!" Kratos suddenly exclaimed while throwing one of his blades, seeing it coming, Naruto caught it and instantly knew what to do. Twisting on his heel, Naruto growled while pulling Kratos from the ground and slamming him into Hades. The God of the Underworld fell back from the attack and Kratos didn't let up, swinging both blades back to his hands before jumping up and slamming them down into him. Hades flesh was burned as the blades exploded in a spray of fire, his voice echoed out in a roar as he stumbled back and the fires behind the grate of his helm grew brighter than ever.

Roaring out, Hades summoned several ghostly skulls from his hooked chains that flew straight for Kratos and Naruto. Cursing, the blond rolled out of the way of one and sliced into the other with Soul-Blade, mildly surprised when it flowed into the weapon. _'They're souls… so Soul-Blade can absorb them!'_ Naruto realized before grinning as he reared back his arm and threw Soul-Blade at Hades, the weapon slamming into him before flying back to Naruto's hand.

Taking that moment as his opening, Kratos lunged forward and swung his blades through Hades repeatedly, soon knocking him down onto one knee. Fire rose up along the walls yet again as he did and Naruto noticed chunks of the walls were falling down this time before looking back to Hades. **"I am stronger than you'll ever be!"** Hades hissed out even as Kratos jumped onto him and then reared an arm back before stabbing it into Hades side repeatedly. Soon cutting out a large chunk of flesh like he did before, Kratos threw it back and Naruto quickly hurled a Dark-Ice spell at it.

The flesh was frozen just as black skeletal hands started to come out of the ground. Growling, Naruto lunged forward, swinging his key-blades through the hands and cutting them apart before slamming both keys down on top of the flesh and shattering it just as he did the last one. When the chunk of flesh was gone, the skeletal arms vanished and Kratos flipped back, off of Hades and slid back on the ground. Roaring out in fury, Hades threw his arms up as shadow chains formed all around him, darkness spread from below him once more and he chuckled evilly.

"**You cannot escape me!"** He hissed out and Naruto looked to Kratos before both ducked to the side where they saw a single area that wasn't consumed. Reaching it just as Hades threw his arms to the side and dozens of razor shadow-chains pierced everything in the area.

'_Seriously, when do I learn how to do that? It'd make fighting in arena's and the like SOOOO much easier!'_ Naruto couldn't help but wonder while Hades then swung his arms inwards, the Shadow-Chains vanishing while Kratos lunged at the god. However, Hades then growled out ominously, his chains spinning and coiling around his body before he flung them down into the ground. _'Oh this can't be good…'_ Naruto thought before seeing a purple field below himself and Kratos. Cursing the blond moved just in time to evade a hooked shadow-chain that burst out of the ground.

"Kuso! I hate when I'm right!" Naruto shouted while running away from the chains, Kratos in the same predicament. Moving to evade the chains as they continued to rise out of the ground, Naruto then slid to a halt when he saw Hades pull them out of the ground. Rearing his arms back Naruto threw both of his Keyblades at Hades, nailing him in the helmet and allowing Kratos to lash out at the god with his Blades of Exile. However, the god soon got his bearings back and roared out, his chains spinning and coiling around him, protecting him from Kratos before he threw both hooks back into the ground.

Cursing lightly, Naruto moved as the shadow-chains started to rip out of the ground and chase after him. Moving around with Kratos, Naruto cursed when he almost stepped on a Shadow-Chain Kratos had just evaded. Rolling to the side to evade the last of them, Naruto reared his arms back as Hades started to get up and tossed both his keys at Hades helm yet again. Seeing this, Kratos formed the Blade of Olympus and lunged at Hades as he stumbled back. Roaring out, the former God of War repeatedly swung the blade, tearing apart the flesh of Hades before he fell to one knee again.

Flames rose up like they had before, however Kratos seemed to ignore them as he jumped on top of Hades head. Roaring out, Kratos then repeatedly stabbed one of his Blades of Exile into Hades neck below his helm. Growling, Hades reached up and threw the man off of his head before rising up and roaring loudly. Swinging both of his hooked Chains, Hades tore a long stretch of the Floor open as Kratos evaded the hooks. Swinging one of his hooks towards Kratos afterwards, he was foiled when Kratos did the same, linking them together in a disturbing game of tug-of-war.

"Wow…" Naruto mumbled as Kratos grit his teeth and dug his heels into the dirt while the oversized Hades yanked on his chain, trying to pull the Spartan into the waters below.

"**Your pain is my pleasure!"** Hades growled out and Naruto frowned before smirking as an idea came to mind. Rearing his arm back, Naruto threw one of his keys towards Hades, nailing his helm and making him stumble. Blinking in surprise for only a moment, Kratos then turned and swung his other Blade of Exile and started to pull himself further back. Growling, Hades got his footing back and pulled on the chain once more while Naruto moved between the Ghost of Sparta and The God of the Underworld and twirled his two Keyblades in hand.

"**Your death will only be the beginning of your suffering!"** Hades promised angrily as he swung his blades towards the two, Naruto throwing a Keyblade to block it before throwing another at Hades helm. Grunting as his head flew back, Hades soon righted himself only for Kratos to start swinging his own blade, Naruto ducking down as he did so. Grunting, The God of The Underworld roared out and swung his hooked chains again, Naruto throwing both keys at him, one deflecting the hook the other slamming into his helm again.

Seeing his moment, Kratos then roared out while throwing his free blade forward, piercing the front of Hades face through the grate of his helm. Looking up and seeing a pair of curved horns above them, Kratos then swung his Chains up and hooked them onto them. Rearing his arms back, Kratos slammed Hades head into the ceiling repeatedly, soon yanking back a final time, Hades crying out as he fell into the waters below and Kratos pulled his hooked-chains into his own hands. Looking at them for a moment, Kratos then allowed them to spin and coil around his body as several Ghouls formed behind them.

"Great… you know I'm really starting to hate Ghouls." Naruto noted with a frown and Kratos cracked his neck before lunging at the undead. Sighing, Naruto did the same, swinging his Keyblades and cutting apart the annoying Undead. Behind him, Kratos whipped his new Hooked-Chains about, tearing apart the Ghouls before swinging them forward and yanked them back, several purple ghostly skulls forming from his strike and slamming into the Ghouls. Naruto however then slammed his foot down into the ground blinking as spikes of Darkness formed out of the ground and impaled the rest…

"Shit, when did I learn how to do that?" Naruto wondered before backing up as Hades erupted from the fissure he'd created with a roar, now three times as big as he had been before. "Back for more?" Naruto wondered while Kratos growled lowly, gripping the hooked-chains in his hands tightly. However, Naruto then grimaced upon actually seeing Hades, his face being misshapen and part of his skull showing threw his skin. "Ugh… sick." Naruto muttered while Kratos merely narrowed his eyes as the Lord of The Dead grit his teeth, eyes wide in raw fury.

"**You cannot destroy Hell!"** Hades roared out before taking a deep breath and spewing what could only be a mass of souls towards the two. Cursing, Naruto held up Soul-Blade to block the attack while Kratos ran to the side and swung behind Hades. Opening an eye, Naruto widened his eyes as he saw Soul-Blade glow bright fire red as it consumed more and more souls, lightning suddenly arching along its length. _'That can't be good…'_ Naruto inwardly decided before gritting his teeth as the red glow formed down the length of his arms and into his body.

Lightning then formed along Naruto's form, sparking and arching as the legion of souls flowed constantly into Soul-Blade, Dark-Fire then flowing along his body as well. _'N-Nope… really not good…'_ Naruto thought before roaring out, a burst of raw energy tearing from his body and knocking Hades back. "Soul Wave!" The blond shouted before gritting his teeth and falling to the ground, Naruto then felt a strange, tainted version of darkness flow into him from the blade and grunted as it started to spread, his eyes turning a familiar gold, only the sclera also turned black as pitch…

Kratos then started to attack Hades from behind, ripping out chunk after chunk of flesh from the Lord of the Dead. Roaring out, Hades slammed his arms down into the ground and dragged them around, slamming them into Naruto and knocking him into the air while Kratos swung around the Lord of the Dead. **"Hold still!"** Hades roared out while Kratos ran over to Naruto and threw him over his shoulder as his body spasmed and shook for some reason.

"Boy we do not have time for this, get a hold of yourself or I'll kill you myself!" Kratos shouted while swinging around Hades once more and landed in a low crouch, Naruto gritting his teeth as the tainted Darkness from Hades spread within him. _'C-can't give in… I won't allow myself to turn into a Heartless… or even something worse… I still have too much I need to do!'_ Naruto thought before wisps of Darkness formed over his body, The Shade grabbing him out of Kratos arms.

"What treachery is this?" Kratos demanded before rolling out of the way as Hades slammed a fist down into the ground.

"**Suffer Mortals!"** Hades roared while Naruto opened his eyes and grit his teeth, wisps of Darkness wrapping around his body.

"No, how about you suffer Hades!" Naruto yelled while swinging Soul-Blade, sending an arc of purple energy forward as the Tainted Souls of Hades slammed back into him. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Naruto then pulled himself free of The Shade and fell to the ground, the wisps of Darkness forming into his Dark-Armor as he touched down. However, the Dark-Armor looked slightly different, his fingers ending in wicked talons, his whole body giving off an eerie purple aura, and long wisps of Darkness flowing from his form…

_[Darkness! Give me strength!]_ The blond called out while a purple aura flowed around his form, wisps of Darkness rising off of his body as he suddenly moved with lightning fast speeds and appeared above Hades. Moving down with the same speed, Naruto rapidly swung One-Winged-Angel and Soul-Blade into the Lord of the Dead before finally moving back, appearing where he started. _[Come out!]_ Naruto then ordered as the Shade formed behind him, Kratos more than a little surprised merely grunted.

"It's about time you started pulling your weight." The bald man commented while narrowing his eyes as Hades reared an arm back and tried to crush Naruto. The Red-Seeker moved with blinding speed however, out of the way and then swung his One-Winged-Angel, which formed an arc of Dark energy. The energy flowed through the air before slamming into Hades, knocking his head back while Kratos swung behind the god. Roaring out the ashen-skinned warrior started to swing his hooked-chains into Hades back, tearing out more and more chunks of flesh as he did.

Growling lowly, Hades would've turned had the Shade not then formed a pair of lightning blasts into its hands. _**"Submit!"**_ The Shade roared out as it slammed its hands into the ground, sending both blasts of lightning into Hades. Behind him, Kratos then swung the Claws of Hades, conjuring a purple monster before he continued to swing them into the god. The Purple monster attacked as well as Kratos, Hades grunting as more and more damage was done to him. Naruto then reared his arms back, and then flung both of his Keyblades at Hades head, slamming them into his face before he fell forward as Naruto caught the blades.

Seeing his moment, Kratos lunged forward, jumping onto Hades back before running forward. Moving between the spikes on his back, Kratos then threw one of the hooked blades down at Hades head before flipping up and landing beside of Naruto. Roaring out, Kratos slammed Hades head down into the ground, then reared his arm back and did it again, Hades leaning up groggily as he broke open his skull. Swinging his other hooked chain into Hades head, Kratos then started to pull back on them, Hades very soul flowing from his body as he did.

"Now Hades, your soul is mine!" Kratos roared out while ripping Hades soul from his body and absorbing it into himself, the God of the Underworld's eyes widening before he suddenly fell forward, slamming into the ground before Naruto and Kratos. Mere moments afterwards, Hades body jolted up as hundreds if not thousands of souls flowed out of his being and into the air, scattering to the four winds as Hades fell to the side, only to be ravaged by strange looking black creatures living in the waters of the Underworld.

_[I'm glad that's over…]_ Naruto muttered while dispelling The Shade and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Twas not even a decent challenge." Kratos grumbled and Naruto had to wonder what the man considered a decent challenge before looking up when he heard Tira's voice. Seeing his servant wave to him, he tilted his head for a moment and then groaned as she jumped down, Alice slung over one shoulder.

"I told you not to do that!" Alice shouted at Tira while the brunette ignored her and lunged at Naruto.

"Master! I'm so glad to see you're alright… but what happened to you?" Tira asked while poking the Dark-Armor and Naruto looked at his altered form for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. Sighing when she saw the object of her annoyance was ignoring her, Alice walked over to Naruto and tilted her head.

"What is all that?" She wondered upon seeing the wisps of darkness and purple aura coming off of the red-seeker.

_[Not sure, possibly has something to do with the overload of Dark-Souls and Tainted-Darkness Hades was putting out…]_ Naruto mused for a moment before hearing Kratos clear his throat, a noticeable scowl across the man's face.

"If you're done speaking to your wenches whelp, allow me to remind you that we still have some ways to go before we're out of here." Kratos stated and Naruto nodded his head before rubbing his chin with a thoughtful frown.

"Excuse me, but can't we just swim through the river?" Alice asked and Kratos sneered at the emerald-eyed girl.

"Unfortunately no. The River-Styx would kill most people; even the strongest warriors are severely weakened by its powers. Believe me, I know." Kratos stated before frowning as he looked to The Claws of Hades for a few moments. "However, now that I have The Soul of Hades, I should be able to make my way through it without incident, you three aren't so lucky." Kratos explained and Naruto slowly nodded his head before looking to Tira and Alice.

_[We're going to take a dark Corridor back to Hephaestus.]_ The Red-Seeker stated and then turned back to Kratos. _[Think you could meet us up there?]_ Naruto asked and Kratos scoffed before turning around.

"I'll be there." He stated before jumping up and then leaped into the River-Styx and swam away from the others.

"Master, may I please kill him?" Tira pleaded with a twitch and Naruto rolled his eyes before opening a Dark-Corridor and walked into it. Pouting, the violet eyed girl followed her master, Alice trailing along behind her…

(Castle-Oblivion…)

Xine walked deeper and deeper into Castle-Oblivion, soon coming to yet another card before a door. "I wonder what else happened back then…" Xine mumbled out half-heartedly before feeling the scar over his missing left eye throb… "Something tells me it was something bad." He mumbled while kneeling down and picked up yet another card with Radiant Garden on the front. Frowning for only a moment, Xine then held up the card, gritting his teeth as a blinding light erupted from the door…

(?)

_Xine found himself wandering down a corridor of Radiant-Garden, he'd been tailing Andross for a little under a week now. However, he had noticed something extremely strange. People had been disappearing in town without a trace, not even signs of a struggle could be found, and they were just gone. Leaning back into a wall away from Andross Xine narrowed his eyes. The man was walking around and reading something intently. The only thing wrong with this was Andross wasn't assigned to any of Ansem's current research projects._

'I've got a bad feeling about this…'_ Xine thought to himself before watching as Andross turned down a nearby corner. Moving after him, the Royal-Guardsman slid to a halt and then gaped when it looked as if Andross had vanished. "What the hell…" He muttered before taking cover when he heard someone coming towards him…_

"_No and for the last time I won't assist you with this insane research!" The voice of Even, whom Xine had long nicknamed "The Chilly Academic", echoed out from down the hallway._

"_Come now Even, certainly someone of your intellect is curious about the nature of the balance between Light and Dark…" A second voice came and Xine felt a scowl form across his face, crimson eyes narrowing dangerously. _'Hojo…'_ He thought and turned to see the black haired man walking beside of Even, a slimy grin across his face._

"_I am but I am not going to go against Lord-Ansem for the sake of that research. Not when I'm close to my own breakthrough in uncovering a suitable method of not only taming but ultimately controlling, Darkness…" Even replied and Xine raised a brow, wondering whose bright idea it was to let him have that kind of project…_

"_Come now Even, surely this would aide in your own research. Imagine it, if we can find out the true nature of balance in all things we could take them apart and then rebuild them if necessary." Hojo reminded only for Even to scowl and cross his arms over his chest while giving the man an icy look._

"_I'm no more convince now than I was before Hojo… and after what you did to miss Lucrecia and your own son, I wouldn't SPIT in your direction, let alone work with you on any kind of Research." Even hissed out before storming away from Hojo, the black haired man blinking for a moment as he left. The man then snorted and snickered slightly before adjusting his glasses._

"_So even the "Chilly Academic" is burdened by his annoying Heart. Well, I wonder if we won't be able to fix that once I'm able to understand the balance between Light and Darkness… and then with that knowledge, I'll learn the true nature of existence itself!" Hojo said to himself before walking down the hall, Xine frowning when the man walked over to a painting. Looking around for a moment, Hojo then moved the painting and pressed in on a hidden switch, a doorway sliding up as he did. Making his way down into a stairwell with his hands in his pockets, the man didn't notice Xine coming from his hiding place, a frown on his face._

"_Me thinks this deserves further investigation…" Xine mumbled under his breath before making his way to the doorway and slipping inside before it close behind him. Making his way down the stairwell with one hand on a wall, Xine blinked as he came to a room with no exit. "What the hell… where is this place anyways?" Xine wondered for only a moment before looking around as the floor slid down and he backed up, crouched down and watched as he came out into another room. Noticing Hojo moving down a path, Xine quickly moved after him, only to stop when he saw water._

"_I must be in the Castle's underground sewage system…" Xine noticed before slowly making his way through the water and following after Hojo. Making his way down a long corridor, Xine spotted Hojo pressing in on a few bricks, another doorway sliding open to reveal a strange laboratory of some kind beyond it. _'What have you been up to Hojo…?'_ Xine wondered to himself with narrowed eyes, the walked slowly through the water and slipped into the lab while the doorway closed behind him. Looking around, Xine widened his eyes upon seeing People inside of strange tubes, what looked like pipes leading into each tube at either side._

"_I'm guessing Even didn't agree with helping us…" Andross voice echoed and Xine's eyes widened when he saw his old friend standing before a table with piles of paperwork on a table, research no doubt._

"_Unfortunately the so called "Chilly Academic" still has some scruples. It's a pity really, he would have made things much easier with his own research." Hojo noted while looking over several of the tanks for a few moments. "Ahh, it looks like this one is almost ready." Hojo noted with a grin and Andross sighed before turning to the man with a thin frown across his face._

"_Ready for what?" Xine whispered to himself before grimacing when he heard something wail from within the tube as pure light bombarded it._

"_Stop the process Hojo and lets see what we got." Andross ordered and Hojo nodded his head before moving a switch and ceased the process, both then looked inside of the tube, unaware of their visitor. Xine himself looked and felt his eyes widen at what he was seeing, it was some kind of white creature, its body black but with a white jumpsuit, blue electric lines running along its sides…_

"_Yet again, this creature is the result." Hojo noted while jotting a few things down in a small journal and Andross hit a button, the creature falling away as he did._

"_But WHY… why do those nothings keep popping up…? Why does nothing accept the light properly?" Andross demanded while walking around the room and Hojo frowned in thought for a moment before snapping his fingers._

"_Well if I might make a suggestion. Since obviously the Heart is most susceptible to Darkness, the Body cannot contain pure Light or Darkness… then what about the…" Hojo started to say only to hear a noise, Xine mentally cursing as he knocked something over while trying to get closer to them._

"_Xine! Shit!" Andross said before Xine jumped up, rolled along a large table and grabbed hold of him._

"_What the hell is going on here Andross?" Xine demanded and Andross frowned before closing his eyes._

"_You weren't supposed to find out about this…" He mumbled and then kicked Xine back, forming a sword into his left hand._

"_What the hell?" Xine demanded upon seeing a pure white sword with blue glass coming off of it._

_The sword was pure white and it's blade was fashioned into the shape of a single edged short sword with thin blue glass forming into triangles out of the back of the blade and poking outwards, a green sphere was placed at the center of the guard, four more of the blue triangles poking out from the guard diagonally, two curls exiting from between the spikes and curling down into the pommel of the sword over his fingers, blue leather wrapped around its handle, and two long tassels hanging off of its end. (Heart-Shredder…)_

"_This is but one thing I have created with my research Xine, a weapon that can channel the Light as a Keyblade can." Andross stated while holding up the sword and Xine stared at the weapon, then at his friend. "I created it after studying your "Alchemy" for a while, I eventually figured out how to balance light into this weapon…" Andross continued and Xine felt his eyes flare at that admission._

"_You use MY Alchemy to make that thing?" Xine demanded while forming a familiar black bladed sword into his own hand._

"_Of course, I intended to give it to you as a gift." Andross explained and Xine scowled despite himself._

"_Sorry to break this to you pal, but I don't like ANYONE, even my friends screwing around with my Alchemy!" Xine growled out while Hojo started to move to the side only for Xine to form a Knife into his other hand and throw it at the doctors shoulder, pinning him to the wall. "Whoa, don't even think about going anywhere Doc, I've still got to put you both away for disobeying Lord-Ansem." Xine noted while looking to either man and Andross twitched._

"_Please Xine, you know as well as I do Darkness is a disease. With my research, I'll not only understand the balance between Light and Darkness within all beings, but also be able to destroy Darkness while preserving the light!" Andross explained and Xine scoffed before narrowing his eyes._

"_Not everyone will want that, Andross…" Xine stated and Andross clenched his fists while gripping the blade of Heart-Shredder tightly._

"_And why do wouldn't they! Darkness has done nothing but create monsters, believe me, I've seen them first hand! Darkness doesn't, no, SHOULDN'T even exist among the worlds!" Andross stated and Xine scowled before lunging forward and grabbing the man by his collar._

"_Even if that's the case it won't mater Andross. No matter what you do people wont join you because everyone has a choice…and if you try to take away that choice from them? Well… all you'll ever become is a Tyrant." Xine replied and Andross scowled before kicking the man off of himself and rolling back._

"_If that is how it must be, then so be it!" Andross shouted at Xine before quickly slamming a switch to his side, a trap-door opening up and Xine falling into it, Andross last words echoing even as he fell. "It looks like we're out of time Hojo, and it looks like we'll have to go with your method, prepare it immediately!" Andross ordered while Xine was thrown out of the tube and into the aqueducts surrounding the city. Spitting out water, Xine quickly swam to the side and held onto it for dear life, looking up, Xine climbed up onto land before gritting his teeth._

"_I don't know what this is all about Andross… but I'm going to stop you." Xine promised before running up the steps to the castle with a deep frown across his face…_

Gasping as he came out of his memory, Xine placed a hand to his head before narrowing his eyes. "Andross… he was… trying to get rid of Darkness. The Body, and The Heart wouldn't work when he tried… but what for? And, what was the method he mentioned…" Xine wondered before shaking his head and rushing deeper into the castle. Finding himself at a long corridor, Xine made his way up a flight of stairs and pushed a large pair of double doors open. Marching down the next corridor, Xine stopped when he came to a new card… this one had a familiar Cross Flory Fetch on it…

"What the hell?" Xine wondered before feeling his eyes dim as he looked at the cad, flashes of a white being forming before his eyes. "I know this symbol…" He whispered before tightening his grip on the card and looked to the final door. "Well, no time like the present to learn more about your past." Xine mused while walking forward to the last door and held up the card. Light flashing over him while the final doorway to his memories burst wide open…

_Xine ran into the Castle, Aeleus and Dilan following after him. "Xine what's going on?" Dilan demanded while the three passed by Braig, the man scratching his head as he watched them go by._

"_Looks like something fun is happening…" He noted and formed his Cross-Bows into his hands before running after the three, catching up in time to hear Xine's explanation of the situation._

"_Andross has gone nuts from what I can tell, those kidnappings look to have been his work along with Hojo. They're both currently in a secret lab down below." Xine explained quickly and Dilan looked to Aeleus, the burly man frowning._

"_This doesn't bode well at all. We best hurry." Dilan noted while Aeleus nodded his head and the three, plus Braig, quickly ran down the corridors of the castle. Seeing Even on their way, Xine grabbed the man while making his way further into the castle._

"_Now see here!" Even started to say only for Xine to give him a dangerous look._

"_Listen here, we have a situation with Andross and Hojo, if you want to get a little payback for miss Lucrecia on that psycho Hojo, shut up and follow us to him!" Xine growled at the man and a disturbing smirk spread across his lips as he got his footing and followed with them._

"_Well why didn't you just say so. I'll be all too happy to help apprehend that upstart." Even replied as the now five men ran further into the castle, Xine turning on his heel down into another Corridor. Moving to the right painting he quickly moved it and hit the switch to reveal the secret passage._

"_What the, I don't remember this being the blueprints for the castle…" Braig mumbled with a frown, Xine ignoring him as he ran down the stairwell, soon followed by Even and the others. Making their way to the bottom, they held still as the floor moved downwards and they quickly made their way through the sewer before Xine slid to a halt where the door was. Pressing in several bricks he finally caused the doorway to open up and ran in with the others, Dilan swinging his spear forward._

"_Alright everyone freeze!" Dilan ordered while Aeleus scowled and leaned his tomahawk into his shoulders, Even smirking as he saw Hojo._

"_Well well Hojo, it appears that you picked the wrong research project after all." Even noted and Hojo scowled before looking around, Xine forming a second Sword at his side from a large pipe._

"_Its over Andross, just come along quietly and no one has to get hurt." Xine ordered while Braig stuck his weapons together and held them up like a sniper-riffle._

"_Shit…" Andross hissed while looking around, then saw the white orb Hojo was holding onto. "We have no choice Hojo, release it now!" Andross ordered and Hojo giggled slightly before slamming his elbow into a button, an alarm going off._

"_Oh man, that don't sound good…" Braig noted while red lights began to flash and something rose up from below them._

"_Allow me to introduce you to an experiment of mine… but then again, this isn't just ANY experiment, this is a very dangerous one!" Hojo noted as he then watched a large creature rise out of the floor, black as pitch with glowing yellow eyes. Its body more a mishmash of different shapes than anything else, constantly shifting and changing into different forms. (Heartless: Chimera…)_

"_We don't have time to screw around Hojo! Come on!" Andross ordered while opening the trapdoor again and jumped into it, Hojo following while the Chimera roared before moving towards them._

"_Shit, I hate it when I'm right…" Braig muttered while Aeleus lunged forward and rammed his shoulder into the Chimera, knocking it back._

"_You head on, I'll deal with this." Aeleus stated and Dilan scoffed._

"_Not alone your not." Dilan stated while taking a stance with Aeleus and Xine pulled Braig and Even over to the trap door and jumped into it while Aeleus and Dilan dealt with the Chimera. Sliding down the length of the tunnel, Xine, Braig, and Even came out into the city's aqueducts before Even formed a block of ice for them to stand on. Both Braig and Xine stared at the man for a moment and he swept his hair back with a deep frown across his face._

"_Don't look so surprised, I was actually in the Royal-Guard before I dedicated my time to science." Even explained before making a path of ice to dry land, Xine forming his sword into spiked boots and helping Braig over to land while Even slid across with ease. Coming onto land, Even then formed some water into a shield while Xine and Braig reformed their weapons. Running after Andross and Hojo, they finally cornered the two men in front of the castle._

"_Game over dudes." Braig stated with a smirk while sticking his cross-bows together and took aim at the men._

"_What the devil is going on?" The authoritative voice of Ansem-The-Wise demanded before spotting Hojo and Andross, a deep scowl crossing his features. "So you didn't stop your research after all… a pity Andross." Ansem mumbled with a shake of his head and Andross grit his teeth._

"_Of course I didn't stop my research! You don't even understand what it is I'm trying to accomplish!" Andross shouted and then looked at the white orb Hojo was carrying with him… "Well, I guess I'll just have to make you understand, by proving that my theories are correct!" Andross then stated while taking the sphere and slamming it into his chest, an explosion of light blinding Braig and causing him to shoot into the air._

"_Andross!" Xine grit out while holding one eye up, Even frowning as he saw a shadow trying to escape._

"_Oh no you don't!" Even stated while sliding over to the side and grabbed Hojo before freezing the man with the excess water still clinging to him. "You're not going anywhere." Even stated coldly, a cruel smirk on his face before he turned to see the light start to fade, Braig and Xine looking forward only for Xine's eyes to widen…_

"_Andross… what have you done to yourself?" Xine wondered as a pure white being stood before him, six massive wings folded against its back while a halo of light in more of a C shape hovered over its head. Meanwhile off to the side and unseen by any one, a black being cried out silently as it faded away into nothingness._

"_I have done it! I have finally rid myself of Darkness!" The creature exclaimed while six wings unfurled from its back, causing it to rise up above them. "At long last, I have cleansed myself of Darkness! Now I see it, now I see the truth!" Andross voice came from the creature before it turned towards Ansem-The-Wise and formed the Heart-Shredder into its hand._

"_Okay, I don't know what that is but I know it aint good." Braig stated while firing at the creature, only for it turn and deflect the blast with its sword._

"_Impudent fool, how dare you attack the new Lord of The Light!" The being demanded and Braig frowned upon hearing Andross' voice coming from it._

"_Man I'm sensing some bad juju from this guy…" Braig noted mostly to himself while Xine stared at the creature as it hovered there silently._

"_Andross!" Hojo suddenly shouted while Even frowned and held him down. "Andross, help me! I aided you in your research!" Hojo shouted and the creature tilted its head to one side before throwing its arms to the side._

"_You… you are a monster who created that beast, Sephiroth." Andross intoned darkly before its six wings spread out, his feathers seeming to spike out. "For your crimes against the Light Hojo. I, the new Lord of The Light hereby sentence you to oblivion!" Andross exclaimed while Xine looked from Andross wings to Hojo and cursed._

"_Shit, Even move your ass or get skewered!" Xine shouted and the Chilly-Academic deftly rolled out of the way as Andross flapped his wings, sending dozens upon dozens of razor sharp feathers flying into Hojo. The man screamed as the light feathers tore into his body, soon leaving nothing left of the man while Andross crossed his arms._

"_Yes. A fitting end for such a monster as he." Andross noted before throwing his arms to the side, light flowing over his form. Soon the light formed a Golden Cross-Flory-Fetch over his chest / torso, a metal Cross-Moline on both thighs, and a metal Cross-Flory-Fetch over his face / mask, all of which appeared to be bolted onto him. Also added was what looked like metal bands around each of its biceps, ribbed metal armor forming around its waist, a metal collar was around its neck, and finally metal plates formed over its shoulders…_

"_Now I am complete! I am Seraph!" The newly renamed Seraph exclaimed while throwing his arms to either side before turning around to face Ansem-The-Wise. Narrowing his eyes, the blond man faced the white being without fear. "Now as for you, Ansem, it is time for you to pay. You who would allow Darkness to exist must be cleansed as well!" Seraph exclaimed while throwing his arm to the side and flapped his six billowing wings, jetting straight for a shocked Ansem._

"_Lord-Ansem! No!" Xine shouted as he ran forward and knocked Ansem aside in time for Seraph's Heart-Shredder to rip through his left eye. Grunting, Xine was thrown back by the attack, skipping along the ground before landing with a groan._

"_Xine!" Ansem called while quickly rushing over to the man, Seraphe holding still as he stared after him. Ansem them got down to one knee and helped his Royal-Guardsmen up into a kneeling position, Xine hissing in pain as he glared up at Seraph while holding the left side of his face._

"_What… Xine… why? What are you doing!" Andross demanded and Xine slowly stood up and glared at the being._

"_Pr-protecting Lord-Ansem… it's my job remember." Xine reminded and Seraph scoffed before looking at the wound. Ansem moved over to Xine and looked at the now bleeding wound before turning back towards Seraph as he hovered there before them._

"_Is this what you consider Purity Andross? Harming your friends for the sake of your own ideals?" Ansem demanded while getting up to face the white creatue as Xine covered his eyes once more. "You call this purity, yet all you've managed to prove to me is your own ignorance!" Ansem stated while staring off against Seraph, the being seeming transfixed as he looked at the bleeding Xine, not even paying attention as Even and Braig moved to either side of Ansem…_

"_Yes this is Purity… but how can I harm someone? My power is light… light is good, it cannot harm others?" Seraph questioned before looking to his right hand… the entire arm consumed by black wisps. "What! No!" He cried before gripping his hand and looking at it with shock and obvious horror. "This cannot be!" He exclaimed before quickly flapping his wings and flying up into the air; soon vanishing into the distance while Xine stared up after him._

"_Even, Braig, help me get Xine to the infirmary. We need to check his wound immediately!" Ansem ordered and both Braig and Even picked up one of Xine's arms and helped him up the stairs as he closed his eye. _'Andross… what have you become?'_ Xine wondered to himself as he was taken into the castle…_

Coming out of his memories one last time, Xine swayed for a moment before falling to his knees, panting out as he gripped his head. "Andross… what was that thing he became?" Xine wondered to himself as he stood up and then turned when he felt a presence, seeing the creature in the cloak standing behind him.

"Ah, so now you remember…" The creature noted and Xine formed two Soul-Eaters into his hands before twirling them at his sides.

"Yeah I do, so, care to tell me what went wrong with your oh so glorious plan… Andross?" Xine demanded and the Heartless shook its head before crossing its arms behind its back.

"Too much went wrong Xine." The Heartless replied before turning its back to him and crossed its arms. "I thought I could purge myself of Darkness, but even when I did, some still remained… I suppose it was because of the method in which I purged myself. Obviously, the more recent Soulless have little to no light… yet my own clearly did." The Heartless mused aloud while Xine narrowed his eyes onto the creature.

"Something tells me you aren't here to help me…" Xine noted and the Heartless chuckled lightly while spheres of Darkness circle its body.

"No… I'm not, I'm here because your Darkness called to me… my old friend." The Heartless replied before crouching down as Xine took a stance with his twin Soul-Eaters, a scowl across his face…

(Underworld…)

Axel and Larxene grunted as they pushed another golden-statue of Pandora through a Dark Corridor. The two came out in Hephaestus's Forge, and slowly moved it over to the god before falling down and panting heavily. "Finally, that's the last of them!" Axel said with a sigh and Larxene nodded her head, both panting as they got the last of the golden-statues into Hephaestus's forge. Reaching out, Hephaestus took hold of the statue before smiling to the two higher nobodies thankfully.

"Thank you both so much, you have no idea how much this means to me." Hephaestus said to both before putting the statue into the roof, allowing it to hang, as he looked them over. "Now… please let it work…" He mumbled while snapping his fingers and sending sparks of electricity through the statues. The electricity sparked and arched along the rows of statues, causing nothing to happen until they saw one start to shake as a flame suddenly appears in its hands…

"_Hello? Is someone there?"_ A young girl questioned and Hephaestus's tired old eyes suddenly widened in joy.

"Pandora, my Pandora is that you?" The god questioned while moving towards the statue giving off the flame.

"_F-Father? Is that really you?"_ The girls voice echoed once more and Hephaestus's smiled as he looked to it tearfully.

"Yes… yes its me." He replied happily while Naruto and the girls walked out of a Dark-Corridor to the side and over to Axel and Larxene.

_[So it looks like you managed to get all the statues.]_ Naruto noted with his arms crossed and Axel nodded his head before Larxene marched over to the Red-Seeker with a deep scowl on her face. _[Yes?]_ Naruto questioned and Larxene pointed at the blond haired youth angrily.

"Which of those stupid keys seals or steals hearts?" She demanded while ignoring Hephaestus as he spoke to his daughter. Blinking in confusion, Naruto then formed Dark-Heart into his hand and Larxene nodded her head. "Good." She said with a nod and grabbed the tip of the blade and pointed it at her. "Then would you PLEASE remove this travesty called a heart from me!" She demanded loudly and Naruto's eyes shot wide open as he looked to Axel who shrugged his shoulders.

"She's been moodier than usual lately, so either its that time of the month for her, which is unlikely, or her hearts been reforming…" Axel explained and got an icy glare from Larxene for the crack.

_[You… want me to remove your heart?]_ Naruto questioned, clearly confused and Larxene rolled her eyes with a scowl.

"I think that's what I said dip-shit now shut up and just yank it out of me!" Larxene snarked and Naruto frowned for a moment before pulling the blade back and then rammed it into her chest. "B-bout fucking time…" She mumbled before gasping as it pierced deeper into her body Larxene swaying slightly as the Darkness formed over it.

_[If this is what you want then so be it. Now… just calm down and relax.]_ Naruto ordered quietly as Larxene closed her eyes as Darkness gripped at the reforming Heart inside of her. _[Open your heart… surrender it to the Darkness… become Darkness itself!]_ Naruto ordered while turning the key and ripping Larxene's heart from her chest, then threw it into the air where a Heartless flashed for a moment before disappearing. Eyes rolling back into her head, Larxene then fell back, only for Axel to catch her before she could hit the ground.

"Well, maybe now she won't be as violent." Axel said to himself while Tira frowned at the idea.

"I hope not, I like her when she's violent!" The purple-eyed servant said and Alice shook her head before Larxene yawned and opened her eyes. Stretching out her arms and leaning back into Axel, Larxene then vanished in a burst of lightning, reappearing beside of the man.

"Now that is sooo much better! Having a heart is just way too painful and troublesome to deal with…" Larxene said mostly to herself while Hephaestus cleared his throat to get their attention. Turning around to the god, Naruto closed his eyes and allowed his Dark-Armor to fade into his skin.

"I want to thank you all for your help. Now, if you still have the charm I can reform a body for your lost friend." Hephaestus said and Axel whipped out the object before throwing it up to the god. Nodding his head, Hephaestus then grabbed two of the Pandora statues before dipping them in lava. Crushing them together afterwards he then began to carve into it with a large spike, and then ground his ring into it a few times. Taking care with it afterwards he soon held what looked like a golden statue of a girl wearing a Dark-Cloak.

"Now for the mind and soul…" Hephaestus mused while placing the charm on the chest of the statue in his hands. Gripping it afterwards he then closed his eyes and channeled lightning through the statue. Afterwards, the golden statue gave off a brilliant glow and Hephaestus dropped it into Naruto's arms. However, rather than a statue, now Naruto held a black haired girl in a dark-cloak. "There you go, one body holding the mind and soul." Hephaestus offered with a grin while Axel smiled seeing the familiar girl.

"We should probably get going now." Axel mused aloud only for Kratos to lunge out from some water to the side. "Whoa where did he come from?" Axel demanded while Hephaestus looked to the Ghost of Sparta in surprise.

"Kratos? Does this mean Lord Hades rules no longer?" Hephaestus questioned and the ashen-skinned Spartan crossed his arms.

"The God of the Underworld, is dead." Kratos replied flatly while walking over to Naruto and gave him a look.

"Hades deserved to suffer, though I thought his death impossible." Hephaestus admitted while rubbing his chin for a moment.

"You'll find that Olympians overestimate themselves." Kratos noted and Hephaestus managed a tired smile before releasing a loud chuckle.

"I'll remember that Spartan." Hephaestus allowed while the Ghost of Sparta looked to Naruto.

"Now then, for you." Kratos mused and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Going to skin me or something?" Naruto quipped and Kratos scoffed.

"No. I don't kill those who aid me in battle whelp. I wish to advise you that you've made an enemy of Zeus with your actions. If your not careful, he will find and destroy you." Kratos warned and a frown formed across Naruto's lips for a moment before he turned and walked to Axel.

"In your own words Kratos, I can take care of myself." Naruto stated while a Dark-Corridor opened up and he stopped before it. "Coming?" He asked his companions and they all walked into the Dark-Corridor together, leaving Kratos with Hephaestus. Frowning only slightly as they left, Kratos then shook his head and looked up to a swirling blue portal.

"You need the soul of a god to use the Hyperion Gate…" Hephaestus suddenly noted and Kratos turned to face the beaten god while making plans for the future…

TBC…


	31. Xion's Station of Awakening

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 30**_: _**Xion's Station of Awakening**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

"_Who… who am I…?_"

A figure dressed in a black cloak with the hood drawn upwards shadowing her face fell into the darkness, lights as bright as stars streaming all around her. Swerving from side to side the figure feels almost as if she was floating down through water as she falls further and further into the depths of Darkness…

"_This place… so familiar… yet so new…_"

Opening a pair of bright azure blue eyes, the figure looks down and sees a stained glass view, upon it is a vision of Sora leaning back, eyes closed and Kingdom Key in hand, Destiny Islands behind him, held within circles around him are Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi, around the edge of the stained glass is numerous crowns…

"_That boy… I know him… don't I…?_"

The girl falls towards the stained glass, only for Two Keyblades to suddenly form from behind her and slam into it. One is Naruto's Dark-Heart while the other is the Gears of Madness Keyblade. The two keyblades then slam into the Stained Glass, shattering it as she falls through the glass. Light suddenly forming over her, causing her to close her eyes even as her clothes started to glow ever so slightly, her hood somehow falling back to reveal her face at long last…

"_His name… I know it too… its…_"

Revealed is a girl with short spiky black hair that came down to about shoulder length. As she opened her eyes she revealed the same azure blue eyes as Sora or Naruto, only upon looking at them one would notice they seemed dark, almost empty, she appears around the same age as Sora's friend Kairi, and oddly enough has the same build and general physical structure as the red haired girl as her as well.

She is dressed in a pair of black Hakama-esque pants like the rest of the Organization would be; her silver lined black boots are knee length and have high heels, her hands are covered by a pair of fingerless black gloves with heart shaped metal plates over the back of either hand, a blue band wrapping around her hands to secure them, her black cloak was left open to reveal a white tube top and a blue belt hanging around her hips, a chain made of crowns falling over one hip, he cloak hanging down to reach calf length with white flames at the edge of the hem, her hood hanging back behind her…

Oddly, she wears a familiar crown necklace, one identical to Sora's own, only this one appears to be made of obsidian rather than normal steel, and a small black scarf is tied around her neck and hangs down the front of her chest, similar in design to the scarf once worn by Braig of Radiant-Garden…

"_Sora…_"

Swerving in the water once more, the girl feels as her body shifts forward, soon coming to rest on top of another stained glass view. Eyes vacant, listless and dark, the girl gazes to the blank stained glass view. "Why…?" She wondered aloud before slowly looking around, the white stained glass was partly broken at one side, almost a third of the entire thing missing for some reason. "Why am I here?" She questioned softly, her eyes still dark and listless.

"_**The Light… it's overflowing in your heart."**_ A strange voice echoed out while the girl blinked vacantly, then lifted a hand to her chest.

"My… Heart?" She questioned while looking to the sky, the endless abyss offering her no signs of who it was that was speaking to her.

"_**Your heart is fragmented, broken…"**_ The voice suddenly echoed out while the girl gazed at the piece of the stained glass view that was missing. It appeared as if roughly 1/3 of it was gone, she supposed that this left her with only a portion of her heart complete… and she also noticed pieces of it were falling in, soon all of it would break away completely…

"Then that's why… and soon it will be completely lost?" The girl asked while looking to the sky for the voice to answer her.

"_**No. Not if you connect with my Heart."**_ The voice offered the girl while she blinked and looked up.

"Would I still be me?" She asked softly, unsure of what to do while looking for the voice to answer her once more.

"_**Yes. You'll be you, only whole. Your heart is filled with nothing but Light; I can offer you Darkness to replace the missing Portion of your heart. Since all hearts are born from both Light AND Darkness… you'll need a portion of Darkness to truly exist…"**_ The voice responded and the girl placed her hand to her chest once more while looking to the sky. Then closed her eyes and nodded her head… Instantly shadowy wisps of energy formed over where the missing section of the stained glass had been, and started to fill the missing space in her "Heart"…

"_**Our hearts have been connected… tied… to the Darkness…"**_ The voice echoed once more while the girl closed her eyes and took slow, steady breaths. _**"The Other's Heart once connected to your Heart… now blocked. Someday, your heart will be filled with your own power… and you will have no need for the Darkness I give to you now."**_ The voice echoed out once more as the girl slowly opened her eyes, now bright, no longer dead the blue eyes gazed to her feet to see numerous doves flying off of the scene of the stained view, now revealing it as their feathers fell around her.

The view showed the girl herself leaning back with a Kingdom-Key in her hand held in a reverse grip, the edge of the scene lined by Nobody Crests on a blue border, the inside of it contained circles, one with Axel, one with someone who looked like her friend Roxas, another that had Xine in it, and one that appeared to be a man in a hooded cloak, and behind the girl and the circles was a view of Twilight Town…

"I… I understand." She whispered softly and then looked up only to hear the voice once more.

"_**We shall see…"**_ It responded for a moment before a circle of dark wisps formed over to the side. _**"But, since you have only just been truly born lets see you take your first steps, shall we."**_ The voice echoed and the girl nodded her head before slowly walking forward, reaching the swirling mass before it faded away. _**"Very good, now lets see how well you can use your mobility… Jump, run, or flip around if you like, loosen up all those underused and new muscles…"**_ The voice offered and the girl nodded her head slowly before crouching back, then launched herself forward, flipping into a roll and then slid into a low sweeping kick.

"_**Excellent, it would seem that your body is in peak condition."**_ The voice mused mostly to itself while the girl nodded her head and stretched out her arms. _**"But… lets try a different form of mobility."**_ It mused, confusing her until she yelped as her body slowly lifted off the ground, black wisps flying off of her boots and back, her cloak flowing slightly open in a formless wind. _**"Go on, it's not hard, fly around for yourself."**_ The voice offered the girl and she blinked before gulping as she leaned back and then leaned forward, floating over the air, almost gliding. Trying to go faster, the girl yelped as she fell face forward and gave out a slight groan of pain.

"_**No need to rush, get use to it at your own pace."**_ The voice offered kindly and the girl blinked as she slowly pushed herself back to her feet and took in a breath before closing her eyes. Instantly she began to float off of the ground again, and then began to move around the strange Stained Glass view. Speeding up when she got the hang of floating for a moment, the girl then spun into the air and flipped back before sliding a foot forward, turning and stopping.

"_**Good work… but we still have much left to do… and so little time to do it."**_ The voice suddenly echoed, as several stained glass steps appeared, all leading towards a much higher Stained-Glass pillar in the distance. Blinking, the girl concentrated and fell to her feet before rushing to the steps and running up them. Soon coming out on a new Stained-Glass view she noticed it was identical to the last one, only with a red border this time rather than blue. Walking onto it, the girl suddenly held up her arms as Darkness shot forward, completely consuming her…

"_**Now then, let me learn a little more about you…"**_ The voice offered as the darkness slowly faded and the girl blinked her eyes open. Looking around, she saw Axel leaning back into a wall, Larxene sitting on a throne, and Roxas sitting on the ground with one leg forward, all within the Organization's Throne-Room. _**"These three are here to help me learn of you…"**_ The voice offered while the girl slowly walked forward, then smiled as Axel grinned towards her.

"What's most important to you?" Axel questioned and the girl placed a hand to her chest before closing her eyes.

"To be myself." She admitted and the man rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression for a moment.

"Is that really so great?" He wondered aloud and the girl turned and walked over to Larxene, the woman giving her a cheeky grin.

"What do you fear most?" She questioned and the girl frowned in thought for a moment before answering.

"Disappearing." She replied softly and the blond woman crossed her arms over her chest with a thoughtful expression.

"Is that really so bad?" She wondered aloud and the girl gave the woman a look before walking over to the final person.

"Roxas…" She whispered and he looked up and gave her a wide grin.

"What do you want most out of life?" He questioned and the girl closed her eyes once more as she considered this.

"To make new friends." She replied softly and the blond haired kid nodded his head while Darkness consumed her vision once more…

"_**Being yourself is most important to you, you fear disappearing, and you wish to make new friends…"**_ The voice mused aloud while the Darkness swirled around the girl, soon starting to abate. _**"Your adventure will begin soon, just keep a steady pace and all will be well."**_ The voice echoed once more while a Stained glass pedestal like the last two appeared, this one having a yellow border. _**"Now then, every warrior has strength in one form or another…"**_ The voice suddenly mused as three small pedestals sprouted from the ground, one with a Sword, the next with a Shield, the last with a Staff…

"_**But it must be you that gives it form. So walk forward, and choose…"**_ The voice offered and then urged before the girl slowly walked over to the sword and took it into her hand. Swinging it a few times, she then spun it and rested the blade in her free hand. The almost familiar feel of her hand on the weapon's hilt unnerving her greatly. _**"The power of the Warrior, invincible courage, a sword of terrible destruction…"**_ The voice echoed and the girl shook her head before placing it back onto the pedestal and walked to the Shield.

Taking it in her hand, she then quickly turned into a swing before thrusting the shield forward. Moving one-foot back, she then spun with the shield in hand before slowing as she became dizzy. Placing a hand to her head she then shook her head before looking at the Shield for a moment. _**"The power of the Guardian, kindness to aide friends, a shield to repel all…"**_ The voice echoed once more and the girl smiled softly before she then shook her head once more, then walked over to the pedestal and put it back to where it had been as well, and then walked over to the final weapon.

Taking hold of the staff she swung it a few times before throwing it spinning into the air and catching it with one hand. Twirling it in her hand she then lashed out with it, swinging it down at an imaginary enemy before stopping and placing it into her free hand and looking at it for a moment. _**"The power of the Mystic, inner strength, a staff of wonder and ruin…"**_ The voice echoed out ominously and the girl bit her lip while looking at the staff for a moment. _**"Is this the path you wish to take?"**_ The voice suddenly questioned of the girl and she slowly nodded her head, the staff vanishing in a flash of dark energy as she did so…

"_**Your path is set… now what will you give up in return?"**_ The voice questioned and the girl walked over to the sword and without a second thought, she tossed it into the air. The sword vanished in a shower of sparks before the voice returned once more, dark energy forming at her feet. _**"You've chosen the path of the Mystic… you've given up the power of the Warrior… is this the form you Seek?"**_ The voice questioned of her kindly and the girl merely nodded her head without any need of thought. The pedestals around her then began to glow with an eerie light before falling into dark pools around the pedestals, the pools of Darkness then spread out, engulfing the entire top portion of the Stained-Glass pillar, the girl falling into their depths…

Opening her eyes soon after, the girl sat up, finding herself on yet another Stained-Glass pillar identical to the last few, the only difference being the green border around it. Blinking, the girl slowly stood up and looked around, only to yelp as a Keyblade, formed into her left hand in a reverse grip. Looking to the Keyblade strangely, she turned it around to a forward grip and then grasped it with both hands. Frowning, as it felt eerily familiar she returned it to a reverse-grip in her left hand and swung it around for a moment, idly noticing a black trail of energy flowing from it's blade, before nodding her head and taking a better look at it.

The handle of the Keyblade was made in the form of a rapier, having only enough room for one hand and was covered in violet leather, the guard of the weapon was made of two curved bat wings that curled together at the pommel, a violet Heart centered in the guard while a black crown rose off of it, the shaft of the weapon is long thin and black, violet glass formed along its sides and sharpened, last was the teeth of the blade, which appeared to be a curved violet crescent moon forming off of three black spikes… (Midnight Sonata…)

"_**Now I believe a new test is in order…"**_ The voice echoed once more as fourteen pedestals suddenly formed around the room… _**"Every puzzle has a solution…"**_ It echoed out once more, puzzle pieces forming on top of each of the pedestals while a doorway with indentions on the front formed in the center of the pillar. _**"But can you find the right one?"**_ It wondered aloud as the girl walked over to the door and placed her hand inside of it, finding the shape of a Heart combined with a Cross, thus was a simple Nobody Crest…

However, she then noticed that three more symbols were also depressed onto this door, all of them forming into a cross pattern, the one beside of it, was in the shape of a Heartless Crest, the one below them a Cross, and the one above that seemed to be two things intersecting to form a heart between them…

Frowning, the girl walked over to the first pedestal and found what looked like the top of a heart that curled downwards into sharp angles. Recognizing it, she walked back to the door and placed it onto the Nobody Crest. Nodding she then walked to the next pedestal, finding what looked like a sharp piece of a "Flory Fetch Cross". Noticing the similarity to the bottom of the cross she'd seen, she walked over to the door and placed it there. Nodding once more, she then walked over to the next pedestal, finding a piece of an oddly shaped piece.

Turning it over in her hand for a moment, she then walked to the door and saw that it was similar to the piece on the strange symbol at the top of the door. Putting it into place she then went to the next pedestal, finding a piece of what looked like a Heartless Crest she ran back to the door and fit it into place. Nodding her head she then redid this, going from pedestal to pedestal and fixing the pieces into their proper place. Soon, she was on the last portion of the puzzle, affixing the final piece of the cross like Symbol into place she watched as all four gave off a bright glow before sliding into one another and leaving one final crest in their wake.

The crest was pure black, and had a distinctly heart shape, with two bends formed at the upper section of it, two spikes poking out of the sides of it near its base. Blinking, the girl reached a hand out to the crest and closed her eyes before darkness suddenly spread around her, engulfing her once more. Blinking her eyes open once everything was over, she found she was on a new pillar, this one with a silver border…

"_**Good work. You're doing just fine. But now then, lets see how you handle combat…"**_ The voice suddenly echoed and the girl took a step back, her Keyblade held before her still in a reverse grip with one hand free. Instantly, several Soulless started to rise out of the ground, the girl quickly taking a stance as several Prism's formed around her. Looking around as the Prism's quickly lunged at her; the girl swung her Keyblade, slicing through two of them before rolling forward and stabbing the weapon into another Soulless. Turning slightly she blocked an attack from another Soulless before pushing up and then swinging her Keyblade to take out another.

"_**Watch out!"**_ The voice suddenly called out and the girl turned on her heel and blocked an attack from behind. _**"Always remember not to loose sight of your enemy."**_ The voice echoed as the girl sliced into the Soulless, causing it to fade and the girl to pant slightly while placing her hands on her knees as the Keyblade vanished. _**"Good work. You're doing very well."**_ The familiar voice called out as the girl looked up then yelped as black energy trailed up her arms, soon leaving four Spellbinders over them…

The first pair formed over her wrists, while the second set formed over her biceps, both sets formed over her black-cloak. Blinking, the girl touched the odd items before looking around then up questioningly towards the heavens. _**"These are your spellbinders, with them, you will gain use of magic and other abilities… remember to always use them wisely."**_ The voice echoed as a Heartless Shadow suddenly came out of the ground. Yelping, the girl backed away from it, only to giggle as it crawled up her form and hugged her neck playfully.

"_**You need not fear the Heartless, for you, or even your heart, the Darkness no longer has sway…"**_ The voice suddenly echoed while the Heartless then crawled to her right Bicep before vanishing as it formed into her Spellbinder, the jewel on it glowing a bright violet color now… _**"You have awakened the Power of the Spellbinder of Darkness. With it, you can command the Heartless, Control Darkness itself, and open Dark-Corridors…"**_ The voice echoed out once more while the girl looked at the item strangely for a moment.

"_**Now then, I believe you should understand the power you now wield."**_ The voice suddenly mused and the girl folded her arms behind her back patiently. _**"Darkness works best with instinct and need, sometimes its power will protect you on its own, other times, you'll need only will its power to aide you. Should you ever need a shield, it will form, should you need a door, it will appear, should you need help, Heartless will come to your aide… Now then, make a doorway and we shall proceed."**_ The voice suddenly echoed and the girl held out one hand, eyes closing as she easily opened up a Corridor of Darkness.

"_**Good, now walk forward to your next test…"**_ The voice uttered and the girl walked through the Dark-Corridor without fear. Coming out, she found herself on a pedestal with a purple border… _**"I believe you've earned a gift…"**_ The voice suddenly echoed out as shadows formed over her right hand, then her Spellbinder before it started to glow with a rainbow of colors, five rings now adorning her right hand, her right Pointer Finger's ring having a glowing black and violet gem on it shifting like a roaring fire…

"_**The Spellbinder of Magic has been awakened, the power of Dark-Fire is now yours."**_ The voice echoed while the girl looked at her hand for a moment before holding it forward and concentrating. Instantly a ball of fire formed into her hand and she smiled happily before sending it flying forward into the distance… _**"Now then, how about a little target practice…"**_ The voice offered as several Soulless Crests formed around her and the girl nodded her head before holding her hand out. Forming a Fireball into her hand she fired it, the fire slamming into the first crest and causing it to vanish.

Turning, she fired into the next one, and then the next one when a strange chime sounded off around her. _**"Excellent, you'll do well as a mystic… but, lets see how you do with moving targets…"**_ The voice echoed once more as three more Soulless Crests appeared around her, two moving from side to side while one moved up and down. Turning to the first one, the girl fired a fireball and missed as the crest moved out of the way. Frowning, she timed it this time and then fired, nailing the first Crest before turning to the next one. This one moved fast at first, and then slowed for a single movement, narrowing her eyes and timing it once more, she fired and nailed that crest as well.

Turning to the final crest, she grimaced upon seeing it moving twice as fast as the others. Breathing in then letting out a sigh, the girl concentrated on the crest before firing, nailing the final crest as another chime suddenly sounded around her. _**"Perfect. A truly marvelous performance…"**_ The voice echoed out in praise while the girl looked around, wondering what would happen next when a set of stained glass stairs suddenly rose higher and higher towards another pillar.

"_**It's time to go, your final test awaits…"**_ The voice suddenly called out and the girl nodded her head before running to the steps. Running up the length of them, the girl came to a final Pillar, this one with a black border unlike the rest of them. _**"Never forget, Darkness is your ally. But you should also remember…"**_ The voice suddenly called out as the girl looked around for it, then frowned when she couldn't find it, not noticing a glow behind her. _**"The further you delve into Darkness… the fiercer the beings of Light shall become."**_ The voice echoed out ominously as the girl turned to see a pure white creature in her shape.

Quickly taking a stance, the girl felt her Keyblade form in her left hand as the white being started to stretch and grow. Soon, in the place of the small, feminine creature was a massive male Soulless, a Soulless: Juggernaut. Instantly, the Juggernaut gave a low rumbling roar as it swung its arms, clasping its hands around the girl before throwing her high into the air. Flapping its great wings, the Soulless then flew into the air after her. Seeing this, the girl righted herself in midair before rearing her left arm back and send her Keyblade flying.

The weapon slammed into the Juggernaut's face, causing its head to fall back as it approached her. Catching the Keyblade as it returned, the girl then flipped onto the Juggernaut's back and ran down its length before jumping into the air. Turning, she then formed a fireball in one hand and sent it flying into the Juggernauts back, causing it to lurch before rumbling low in its throat. Flapping its massive wings it turned towards the girl it lashed out with a fist, slamming into her and sending her flying into the stained glass pillar.

Landing and skidding along the glass, the girl grasped the edge of the pillar while the Soulless flew down and hovered over it before giving a low rumbling groan in its throat. Pulling herself up and back to her feet, the girl looked up as the Juggernaut brought its fist forward, light forming around it as it then reared it back. Seeing this, she instantly ran forward and then jumped as the Juggernaut slammed its fist into the ground, avoiding the shockwave as she landed on its outstretched arm.

Rushing up its arm, the girl quickly started to slam her Keyblade into its head before it roared and knocked her into the air with a flap of its wings. Rumbling it then flew after her again, grabbed her with both hands before throwing her into the pillar. Landing with a grunt she looked up and then gasped as the Soulless flew high into the air, grabbed the halo over its head and reared its arm back. Roaring out loudly, it then threw its Halo down towards her. The halo formed into a buzz saw shaped beam of light on its way and the girl quickly rolled out of the way it suddenly cut the pillar she was on completely in half. Feeling the rest of it start to shift, the girl ran up it and then landed on the side of it as it fell, the Soulless forming a massive ball of light in its hands behind her.

Sliding to a stop and turning around, the girl placed one hand onto the ground before launching herself towards the Soulless. The white being quickly threw its now enormous ball of light towards her, the girl rearing her left arm back threw her Keyblade towards it, causing it to explode and send both her and the Juggernaut flying. Finding herself falling, the girl concentrated before gliding into the distance, soon landing on another pillar, the Juggernaut landing in a heap before her.

Seeing her chance she lunged at the Juggernaut, lashing out with rapid swings of her Keyblade before then using one powerful swing that knocked it off of the pillar. Breathing out a sigh of relief, the girl started to turn only to snap her head back around and widen her eyes as the Juggernaut flew into the air and grabbed its halo once more. Clenching its fist on it sparks formed from the Juggernaut's hand before it threw its arm into an arc, an arc of light flying from its hand and slamming into the girl. Falling off of the pillar, the girl caught the wind and flew into the distance, soon being grabbed by the Juggernaut once more.

The Juggernaut gave a low rumble as it started to close its hands over the girl, crushing her body in its grip. Gritting her teeth and struggling in the hold of the beast she then opened her eyes, a pair of yellow gold orbs being revealed as the shadows pushed the Juggernaut off of her and knocked it back. Falling down, the girl landed on another pillar and rolled into a low crouch. Panting heavily the girl placed a hand to her chest as Darkness crawled up from a pool below her and wrapped over her form…

Soon the darkness formed into Armor over her body, starting with a black organic looking body suit, the suit was violet from her hands to her biceps, her fingers left black, her chest down was covered by thick violet pads as well, formed over her torso like her muscles and then down visibly over her groin, more thick pads forming over her knees with dark violet boots with black soles that formed into high heels, a Violet belt was worn around her waist with a black "skirt" coming down with Violet edges and two violet straps curving up into the belt, yet not holding the skirt together in the front unlike the other seekers.

Added over the armor was her black scarf, the tattered edges waving in the wind while her Spellbinders glinted on her wrists and biceps. Last was her helmet which started with a silver jagged chin-guard like the other Seekers that wrapped around the back of her head, two blades came down from the back of the guard, forming downwards like hair, with an extra pair of them curving off the sides of the helmet like long pointed ears, while the rest was taken up by a dome of black glass, concealing her face and other features from view.

Clenching one of her fists, the Violet Seeker looked up as the Juggernaut came down towards her. Flipping back as it slammed its fists into the ground she then flipped over a backhand and landed on her feet. Crouching back, the girl then launched at the Juggernaut, twisting into a kick to its chest and knocking it back. Landing in a crouch as it fell onto its back, the Violet-Seeker watched as the creature slowly got back onto its feet and gave a low rumbling sound.

Not giving it time to attack, the Violet-Seeker reared her left arm back and threw her Keyblade into the Juggernaut's face before forming a fireball in one hand. Holding her hand towards the beast she fired the fireball into its face, forcing it to stumble back. Looking around, the Violet-Seeker then launched towards the Soulless' leg and ran up it, flipped onto its arm and then slashed through its head with her keyblade, knocking it back once more as she twirled in the air before plopping to the ground. Landing softly she watched as the Juggernaut stumbled back before falling down and vanishing into sparks of light.

"_**A truly stunning performance."**_ The familiar voice echoed and the Violet-Seeker looked around for its owner. _**"You have faced many enemies in your life, even before now…"**_ The voice uttered softly and the Violet-Seeker turned only to crouch into a stance upon seeing a silhouette of Sora. _**"But now… you must face your past."**_ The voice uttered as a pair of bright yellow eyes opened on the Shadow-Sora, a Black Keyblade in its hands with a Heartless Crest, as it's key chains charm.

"_**Face your past, face who you were part of, and defeat your own weakness…"**_ The voice ordered and the girl launched herself at the Shadow Sora just as it lunged at her as well. They came together at the same time; Keyblade's locked together before shoving one another back. Landing in a crouch, the girl formed a fireball in her hand before throwing it at the Shadow-Sora. The creature in question merely conjured a burst of Ice to counter the fireball, both coming together and vanishing as they hit one another. Narrowing her eyes, the girl lunged at the Shadow-Sora once more, swinging her Keyblade in a fast and wide arc.

Seeing the attack coming, the Shadow-Sora merely jumped back to evade it, then swung his own Keyblade down, deflecting it to the ground. Quickly turning on his heel, the Shadow-Sora kicked her chest, sending her flying back before skidding to a halt. Holding its keyblade into the air, the Shadow-Sora then conjured a bolt of lightning, the Violet Seeker rolling out of the way before flipping into a crouch. Lunging at the Shadow-Sora once more, she flipped over it and swung her Keyblade into its back, causing it to stumble forward.

Not letting up she then swung into one of its legs, knocking it onto one knee and then swung down, knocking it to the ground. Twisting into a low sweeping kick, the Violet-Seeker sent the Shadow-Sora skidding along the ground before landing in a low crouch, yellow eyes locked onto her. Twisting its keyblade in the air the Shadow-Sora suddenly changed, a red aura surrounding it with red symbols formed over the sleeves of it's jacket and on the legs of its pants, as it held two keyblades in its hand, one slung over its shoulder as it lunged at her once more.

Blinking in surprise, the girl barely blocked the first Keyblade before grunting as the Shadow-Sora slammed his other Keyblade into her head. Grunting as she rolled to the side she used a hand and flipped onto her feet before forming a fireball in her hand and sending it flying into the Shadow-Sora. The Shadow-Sora saw this, thus flipped over the attack before lunging at her once more, swinging both Keyblades in fast, powerful strikes. Evading and dodging the few she could, the Violet-Seeker then ducked under a swing and elbowed the Shadow-Sora in the gut, knocking it off balance.

Raising her Keyblade she slammed it into the Shadow-Sora's chin, knocking him further off balance as she then twisted and slammed her Keyblade into it's stomach. Flipping away from the Shadow-Sora, the girl then reared her left arm back and threw her Kingdom-Key at the Shadow-Sora, slicing through it's midriff before the key spun around and came back to her hand. The Shadow-Sora fell to the ground once she'd caught the blade, both his Keyblades vanishing as the red-aura faded. Watching it she saw it wiggle, then explode in a burst of darkness.

Blinking for a moment, she then looked on in shock to see the Shadow-Sora was still alive, only now it had black wisps wafting from its body with a blue black skin tone, sharp claws ending its fingers, and blue wing like shapes formed over the sleeves of its jacket and legs of its pants. Crawling on all fours, the creature lashed out with quick swipes of its claws at her. Stumbling back more from the sheer speed than the damage of the attack, the girl blinked then gasped as the Shadow-Sora slammed its knee into her face with unreal speed.

Arching her back and forming into a flip, the Violet-Seeker landed on her feet as the Shadow-Sora lunged at her once more. Evading a swing from its claws, she then twisted on one heel, slamming her Keyblade into its gut. Stumbling back the Shadow-Sora twitched strangely before suddenly lunging at her once more, swinging its claws wildly. Backing up from the wild attacks, the Violet-Seeker then twisted into a swing, knocking it back as it. Rearing her left arm back she then threw it into the Shadow-Sora, knocking it higher into the air as she caught her blade and threw it a final time.

The Shadow-Sora landed on the ground with a thud, darkness rising up and pulling it into its depths. Breathing out a sigh of relief as she fell to her knees, the girl felt her Keyblade vanish as she closed her eyes. _**"Good work Xion… you've proven yourself worthy of the Title, Seeker of Darkness…"**_ The voice from before offered and the girl looked up and then all around herself.

"Who are you?" She questioned and then heard a sound. Turning quickly she watched on as a Dark-Corridor opened and a figure in a slightly modified Dark-Cloak walked out to stand before her. Reaching up, the figure pulled his hood down and unzipped his cloak, revealing himself to be Naruto…

"A friend." He replied softly, smirking as Xion walked over to him and leaned forward, then tilted her head as she looked at his face.

"Are you… Roxas?" She questioned of the blond then blinked for a moment as he visibly grimaced before darkness rose up and engulfed both of the Seekers, taking them to a new world…

(Castle-Oblivion…)

Xine slid back while dodging around a sphere of Darkness from the Dead-cell from earlier. _'So, Andross was split into a Heartless and Soulless, but the Soulless was imperfect, that at least explains something about him. But, what does that mean about this Heartless? Is it also imperfect?'_ The brown haired man wondered to himself while twisting around more blasts from the Heartless effortlessly. Twiling his swords in hand for a moment, Xine then lunged forward, swinging both Soul-Eaters at the Heartless with quick yet powerful swings.

The Heartless dodged them all; it's agility and very limber body impressing the man for only a moment. _'This Heartless is pretty strong… but no where near as tough as that Seraph thing was…'_ Xine realized while moving his head to one side, evading another sphere of dark energy while the Dead-Cell then flipped back and landed in a low crouch. Throwing its arms out to its sides, it then threw a pair of spheres towards the brown haired man, Xine frowning mutely as he slammed his foot into the ground, conjuring spikes of metal from pipes below them to form upwards and block the attack.

"This is really pathetic…" Xine muttered mostly to himself before lunging forward, twirling his blades in hand before slamming them together back to back, creating a double-edged Broadsword variation of the Soul-Eater as he did. The Heartless was clearly surprised as he did and quickly jumped back as Xine swung the weapon at him with both arms. Leaning a foot forward, Xine then twisted into a swing, the Heartless ducking down to evade it while forming a sphere of Darkness in its right claw. Seeing the attack coming, Xine slid back to evade and came down in a low crouch, his eyes narrowed onto the Heartless dangerously.

"I've fought tougher Somebodies than you…" He grumbled out, the Heartless twitching in annoyance only to look on as Xine moved his hand down the length of his Broadsword, causing it to length, soon forming into a spear.

"I would absolutely LOVE to know how you do that…" The Dead-Cell stated while looking at the Soul-Eater, clearly impressed and Xine couldn't help a frown.

"I thought you studied my Alchemy already, Andross!" He reminded furiously while lunging at the Heartless, stabbing his spear forward and towards the Heartless. Leaping back, the Dead-Cell only just missed being skewered before slowly sliding back and formed a shield of Darkness. Gritting his teeth, Xine slid around then and stabbed the spear down, only to see the Dead-Cell was missing.

"Unfortunately, my Soul took almost two-thirds of our combined memories, I know but a mere fraction of what, Andross, knew in life." The Heartless suddenly said and Xine looked up to see it was standing on the ceiling, its arms crossed over its chest and head tilted to one side.

"Figures you'd put all of your being into your research…" Xine muttered and the Dead-Cell nodded his head before flipping from the roof, turning in midair and landed in a low crouch across from him.

"My research, my family, my friends, all of that was taken from me. All I remember is my hatred, all I know is anger!" The Dead-Cell declared before stomping one foot into the ground and Xine scoffed before placing his hand onto the spearhead of his weapon with a deep frown.

"You only ever had hatred inside you Andross… and that's what led to your current and very sorry state!" Xine reminded while dragging his hand from the spearhead and making it form into a long, curved scythe head, the shaft of the weapon changing to form a single handle coming off of the side, which he then gripped tight. "And now it's time for you to reap what you've sewn!" Xine growled out while lunging at the Heartless once more, swinging his weapon in wide long arcs, the Heartless staying a good foot away from him in order to evade the bladed weapon.

"Yes, I hated the Darkness… I hated the monsters born from it… and most of all; I hated how it HAD to exist. It drove me mad, I wanted to rid the world of Darkness, to cleanse the worlds so that monsters that hurt the innocent would never be born again!" The Dead-Cell said while moving back, away from Xine and evading his constant swings from the Soul-Eater-Scythe.

"Yeah I know that and in the end, all you did was become a monster born from light!" Xine reminded while spinning the Scythe over his head and brought it down in a hard swing, slicing a long gash through the front of the Heartless' brown cloak.

"I know… and that's what I find truly ironic." The Dead-Cell admitted while taking several steps back and Xine frowned while pulling the Scythe apart. He formed a Buckler Shield out of one half of the Scythe, and a normal Soul-Eater out of the other half before twirling the sword and taking a stance.

Lunging forward once more, Xine swung his sword at the Dead-Cell, the Heartless quickly evading only for him to slam the side of the shield into his head. Briefly dazed by the attack, the Heartless didn't see Xine bring it back up, slamming it into his chin and knocking him back. Rolling into a low crouch, the Dead-Cell groaned lightly while rubbing his chin then narrowed his yellow eyes from within the depths of his hood dangerously.

"Why don't you use your own Dark-Powers against me, Xine?" The Heartless questioned and Xine scoffed before crouching into another stance with a frown.

"I'm not as stupid as people think Andross, you're a Heartless that feeds off of Darkness. Me using it against you would only make you all the stronger." He reminds flatly and The Dead-Cell tilted its head before lunging into the ground like a Shadow or Neo-Shadow Heartless. Narrowing his eye, Xine then moved back as the Dead-Cell came out of the ground. Growling lightly, the man just missed having the Dead-Cell slice into him before sliding back into a stance.

Lunging forward, Xine formed two Soul-Eaters once more and quickly slashed at the Dead-Cell in an X. The attack connected with the Heartless, causing it to fly back before it managed to fall into a crouch, only to suddenly fell down to one knee. "Your not nearly as strong as I would've thought." Xine noted and rather than answer him, the Dead-Cell lunging forward with Dark-Orbs in hand once more, Xine quickly slamming his Soul-Eaters together hilt to hilt. Twirling his now double-sided Soul-Eater for a moment, Xine then swung the weapon, slicing straight through the Dead-Cell while sliding to a halt.

Instantly the Dead-Cell fell down, his orbs of darkness shattering while his body began to fade. Turning around and dispersing his weapon, Xine walked over to the Dead-Cell and looked into its hood. The creature chuckled while looking up at him from behind the shadows of its hood. "It doesn't matter if you destroy me Xine… so long as The Seraph exists… the balance will never be restored…" The Dead-Cell stated before his chuckles turned into sinister laughter, Xine scowling as he did.

"What do you find so damn funny?" Xine demanded while grabbing the Dead-Cell by its throat and it tilted its head slightly.

"You… and all the warriors of both light… and darkness… you are all nothing… they will be revived soon enough… their time is finally coming once more…" The Dead-Cell replied before laughing once more, Xine raising a brow before gripping the Dead-Cell tighter.

"Who!" He demanded and the Dead-Cell merely continued to chuckle as he faded away, not leaving a single trace he was ever there. Growling lightly Xine stood up and glared at the spot where the Dead-Cell had been, then looked to one of his hands. "So then… Seraph must die if the worlds are to survive…" He muttered before placing his hands into his coat pockets. "So be it then, I guess I'll be a Seeker once more, and hunt down my old friend." Xine decided seriously before frowning in thought and tapping his chin for a moment.

"So… first things first, find someone who knows what the hell is going on in the Dark-Worlds so I can actually find him…" He said to himself before considering everyone he knew and then smirked as he got a thought. "Master-Xehanort." He said to himself while opening a Dark-Corridor and walking into its depths to begin his search for the old Keyblade Master…

(Sanctuary of Light…)

Seraph sat in a throne calmly while watching as Redeemer trained himself in using the Light. However, he then looked up when he sensed some small part of him fade, then shook his head. "Good, that's one more loose end tied up…" He mused mostly to himself before leaning his head into one fist as Redeemer destroyed Heartless after Heartless. _'Soon his training shall be complete, and then we'll have a new member of the Court of Order…'_ The Seraph thought to himself while leaning back in his throne…

(?)

Kyuubi officially hated his life. Not that he hated having FINALLY gained a life of his own, but he hated always being someone else's servant. First he was that bastard Madara's pet, then he was sealed into that bitch, then into that bigger bitch Kushina, and then he was sealed into that brat Naruto, and now, now he was forced to serve Chernabog or get destroyed! _**'Those damn Guardians would be better than these dicks… wait, they torture you for all eternity or until you swear your undying loyalty to them… never mind.'**_ Kyuubi thought before shuddering as his memories, rather the Juubi's memories, reminded him of things that had happened in the past.

Back then; there was only ONE world… one world in which beings of both light and darkness could coexist. One complete world where Twilight warriors were common. One world where there were no borders or barriers to keep them from each other. Yes… one world in which all could exist… Of course, back then things were much more different than they are now. Back then; the Juubi was merely one of many different Demon-Lords of unrivaled power, each Demon-Lord having joined forces for the sake of destroying all life.

They had escaped from a "Demon-World" separate from the One-World, they had invaded for the soul sake of destroying life… Unfortunately for the Demon-Lords, The Key-Bearers at that time had fought against them. They were strong, however they were an Unholy breed, thus anything "Holy" or even Light based could hurt them severely without being able to regenerate from it quickly. The Keybearers had stood against them in order to protect the weak, save innocent lives, blah blah blah… Kyuubi really hated "Noble" people like that as they honestly made no sense to him…

Of course, back then there had been thousands of Key-Bearers, and with their combined efforts they drove the Demon-Lords back to "Hell" rather the Demon-World. A few of them escaped of course with Juubi and Chernabog being the stronger of those who were able to escape. This had lasted only until the "Key-Blade-War" in which a single Key-Bearer had enlisted the aide of the Demon-Lords in order to obtain ultimate power, but unfortunately, her plan failed and she ended up being sealed away. This also had the effect of tearing the worlds apart, scattering the Demon-Lords onto smaller worlds where they tried to regain their former power…

Personally, Kyuubi could care less about destroying ALL life unlike his original self. He really only wanted a few people dead, and then he'd figure out what to do with his newfound freedom. First, Uchiha Madara, who was as good as dead as far as he knew. Second, Uzumaki Kushina, who WAS dead, hehehe… Third, Namikaze Minato for sealing him in that brat, yet again, already dead so he wins! Fourth, the Shodaime and his whore of a wife, both of who had sealed him away for the first time, and yet again, both of whom were both dead! Lastly, but most importantly, Kyuubi wanted Uzumaki Naruto AND that little fucker Vanitas' heads on a pike!

Shaking his head, Kyuubi crossed his arms as his flaming steed landed on a world in the land of light. _**'I hate these worlds, they're all just too damn childish and bright…'**_ Kyuubi thought to himself with a sneer, his glowing crimson eyes narrowing in disgust as he hopped off of his steed and patted its neck. _**'Although, I must admit I like this flaming horse… thing…'**_ Kyuubi admitted to himself before turning around and making his way further into the world. The world was known simply as "Destiny Islands" for some strange reason, and was his first stop in finding this Sora kid.

'_**I hope he beats the crap out of Chernabog again… I can't stand having to bend to his fucking will!'**_ Kyuubi thought to himself with a twitch before crossing his arms with a low growl. Hell, if it weren't for the fact that Chernabog was just as strong as Juubi, Kyuubi would have told him to fuck off. However, given he was only a ninth the power of Juubi, not to mention had half of his full power taken away, and you could imagine he wasn't about to piss off a Demon-Lord that could crush him in one hand.

'_**But… once I figure out a way to boost my powers as a Seeker of sorts, I'll free myself of his control! And then, I'll rip his fucking head off for this insult!'**_ Kyuubi inwardly ranted, not really trusting the horse since it was following him… what? Chernabog made that damn thing in the first place, while he liked it he had to admit the possibility that it was watching him for Chernabog was VERY high…

Looking around, Kyuubi blinked before walking over to a beach and stood before it… **"Such a tiny place…"** Kyuubi mumbled while looking out to the see, his body leaking Dark-Wisps of energy. **"To the heart seeking freedom, this island is a prison, surrounded by water… This world… is too small."** Kyuubi said to himself once more before turning around and walking around the small island. _**'No sign of Sora… or his blasted friends…'**_ Kyuubi realized and then growled low in his throat before looking over to his steed before narrowing his eyes.

"**I should probably look around for some clues… or I could cause a little mayhem and destruction…"** Kyuubi mused to himself an evil grin forming on his face as he looked around the tiny island. Deciding only a second later, the black / red Seeker held his arms out to his sides while forming Dark-Fire into them. _**'Chernabog never said I couldn't enjoy myself a little…'**_ He mused before rearing his arms back and threw them forward, hurling a pair of fireballs at a wooden tree house…

(?)

On a distant world far from the realm of Darkness, a pair of very familiar Black-Soulless walk out of a Dark Portal, Angela shaking her head while Zero has a beat up old dark-brown fedora on his head. "Did you really have to castrate Freddy like that?" The girl suddenly questioned while walking next to her boy friend and Zero seemed to blink before crossing his arms.

"You shoved that big ass Machete up his ass." Zero reminds flatly while tossing the Hat to the side and Angela seems to blink as well before sighing.

"He hit on me and thought I'd actually fall for him disguising himself as you…" She reminded and Zero suddenly growled low in his throat, a dark aura literally forming around him as he did.

"Yeah… and no one messes with my girl like that but me! Besides the guy was a deranged undead Child Molester slash Killer, he deserved it as far as I'm concerned!" Zero stated while cracking his knuckles ominously and Angela had to reframe from giggling. She honestly didn't know why she was reframing from it, especially since she could show emotion now without blowing things up… eh, she was probably just used to not being able to do it…

"Well that's… slightly psychotic yet somehow sweet at the same time, but you know I can take care of myself, which is why I shoved that Machete up his ass…" Angela reminded and Zero nodded his head with a slight snicker while remembering how much pain that so-called Dream-Demon had been in after they got through with him.

"Yeah, and then Jason shoved his own claw through his chest! Oh and that one chick cut off his head! Priceless man!" Zero noted with a snicker and Angela groaned lightly to herself while rubbing her temples.

"Don't remind me… he tried to kill US afterwards and he was still dangerous enough to do so." Angela reminded the Soulless-Infidel and Zero blinked before rubbing the back of his neck.

"True, but at least we managed to convince him you were an Angel, thus being the good little boy he was he decided not to maim us horribly." Zero reminded while slipping a hand around Angela's waist to rest at her hip.

"Hnn… true." She admitted while absently leaning into her boyfriend and sighed in content. "Do you know the good part about being like this?" Angela questioned and Zero took a thoughtful posture as he considered for a moment.

"Eternal Life, infinite power, eternal youth, no hunger, no needs, we can do whatever the hell we want…" He started to list and Angela mentally blinked while considering all that and then nodded her head.

"That too…" She admitted before turning and wrapping her arms around his neck. "But the best part is being able to show my emotions…" Angela admitted while Zero leaned his head into hers while wrapping his arms around her waist.

"True… that is a definite plus… though I don't mind you not showing your emotions, I still know you care Kara-Chan." Zero reminded and Angela mentally smiled before laying her head into the crook of his neck. "But do you know the BAD part about this?" Zero asked and Angela tilted her head to one side. "No lips or any other defining features whatsoever…" He reminded with an annoyed tone and Angela "Blinked" before mentally frowning as she did remember that.

"Right… lets go kill those Soulless that did this to us." Angela agreed and Zero chuckled lightly while she stomped off.

"I thought we were looking for that kid that's like me?" Zero questioned with amusement and Angela stopped and considered that for a moment.

"Yes we are looking for him, so we find him, then we hunt down and slaughter the Soulless that did this." Angela agreed with a nod of her head and Zero laughed to himself while following after the female soulless.

"You know, for someone who never shows much emotion Kara-Chan, you sure know how to make others laugh." Zero noted with a mental grin and the girl rolled her eyes, if she had any, and then crossed her arms.

"This coming from the person whose purpose in life seemed to be teasing and harassing my former leader…" She reminded flatly and Zero blinked before rubbing his chin for a few moments…

"This is true. However, I've said it before and I'll say it again, the kid is just too damn serious." Zero stated and Angela rolled her eyes with a frown as they walked further into the world, Zero looking around warily. "Just where the hell are we anyways?" He asked and Angela looked around as well and frowned as she saw a massive white castle in the distance.

"I think this is "The World that Never Was" or some such thing…" She replied and Zero crossed his arms behind his neck while looking up towards the massive castle with his girlfriend.

"Think we should go see if anyone's home?" Zero wondered aloud and Angela stopped to consider that for a moment before sighing.

"It's not like I could stop you if I wanted too…" She reminded and Zero chuckled to himself for a moment before running towards the Castle, Angela shaking her head as she followed after the male Soulless. However behind the two, a pair of people peered out from behind a building.

"So, should we introduce ourselves now?" A young teenage girl, her voice slightly high-pitched and filled with a noticeable manic quality, questioned while looking up to the second figure and he rubbed his jaw.

"**Nah, we still have a few more chapters to go before that happens…"** A male with a deep, gravely voice that sounded of smoke and gasoline replied and the girl snorted before giggling to herself.

"True, hiya folks!" The girl exclaimed while waving to an unseen "Audience" with a wide smile on her face.

"**Stop it! I said we don't introduce ourselves till later!"** The male of the two ordered and the girl pouted while crossing her arms.

"Aw, but I just wanted to say hi!" She complained and the big guy shook his head before deciding he wanted to do that as well.

"**Yeah well since you already said, "Hi" I get too as well. Howdy there fans of this worthless piece of fiction, I'm here to be one of the many cameo's slash crossover characters!"** The big guy said while the girl snickered into one hand for a moment and then grinned towards the audience.

"Yep! Same with me!" She exclaimed happily and the big guy nodded his head.

"**Uh huh, and, if you people want to know who we are, well… you've probably got quite a few ideas already… but anyways, we'll be here again soon enough! So if you want to see me, and this chick whom I wish was my daughter again, stay tuned for more NU: Birth of the Seekers!"** The big exclaimed while the girl giggled into her hands before jumping onto his back with a grin.

"This is going to be so much fun!" The girl said with a laugh as the man hit a button on his person and both faded away into a strange shimmering portal…

TBC…

AN:

Here's a list of Naruto's Keyblades thus far…

Dark-Heart: A Keyblade with the corrupting Powers of Darkness capable of creating Heartless from anyone cut by its blade. A lightweight Keyblade of the Realm of Darkness perfect for single handed use, due to its function, this weapon is useless against Heartless though is very effective against Somebodies and Soulless.

Soul-Blade: An inherently evil Keyblade with the power to devour souls. A surprisingly light keyblade well suited for singe or double-handed use, perfect for fighting Soulless or Somebodies, though it is all but useless against Heartless.

Gears of Madness: An old Keyblade that once belonged to the Apprentice of Master Xehanort. A Light weight Keyblade that unlike his other blades has the ability to destroy Heartless, though is useless against Unversed…

Vorpal-Key: A Keyblade forged from a shard of the Vorpal-sword, capable of cutting through anything, even a foot of solid steel. A heavy double handed Keyblade, requires two hands to use properly, useless against Heartless and Soulless, but perfect for use against Somebodies and Nobodies…

One-Winged-Angel: Born of the dark powers of Sephiroth, this Keyblade shall cut down all who dare to stand in its way… Thin, light, and for use with a single or even both hands, this Keyblade boast superior power and speed. This wicked key will cut down all things in its path…


	32. Investigations

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 31**_: _**Investigation**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(?)

"_Master?" Ventus called out while walking further and further into the castle of the "Broken-Kingdom" as the old man had called it. "Master!" He called out louder while wandering through the old halls, only to yelp as he tripped over a piece of rubble. Groaning, Ventus slowly sat up and then kicked whatever had tripped him, sending it flying down the length of the hall. "Why did we ever come to this place?" The blond haired youth wondered to himself before laying down with a soft sigh._

"_I mean, its not like this world is even infested with anything evil or even dark, it's just an old run down world…" He grumbled out while crossing his arms and then looked around the ceiling for a moment. "Not a thing, this place is completely empty!" He declared before flipping back to his feet and stomped his way down the many halls of the castle. "The only thing here is a bunch of stupid traps that Master used to nearly kill me!" Ventus stated with a deep scowl while he wandered the castle, only to stop, then blink, and look into a room to the side._

"_Whoa…" He whispered while walking into the room and looked all around for a moment. The room was enormous, there were crystal shapes here and there along the walls, the floor was made into a black and white checker pattern, several of them broken or missing, the walls had old half torn or destroyed tapestries hanging from them, ancient suits of armor lay in pieces over the floor, as well as what looked like statues made of glass seemingly broken from age, a pair of large mirrors were to either side of the room, one seemed to reflect something dark and twisted, while the other had what looked like a ball, with people dancing within it…  
_

"_Huh?" Ventus questioned while looking between the two mirrors and then frowned lightly to himself. "What weird mirrors…" He mumbled before walking over to the "Dark" Mirror and placed a hand onto it. However, he then yelped as he somehow fell through the mirror and into a dark realm. "What the!" He demanded while quickly getting back to his feet and looked all around the Dark-World. The world had a noticeable quality that made it similar to the "Real-World" in that it was the same in shape and everything looked similar to the way it had before._

_However, the floor was now grey and black, the walls were a drab grey, and the shadows all around him seemed even more prominent, the crystals on the walls now gave off an eerie blue light, the glass statues had been replaced by obsidian ones with the armor around the room now made up of spiked and jaggedly curved plate-mail, and last, the doorway he had entered from was gone, now replaced by massive obsidian arches allowing him to gaze out at a shadowed world._

"_What is all this?" Ventus wondered while slowly getting up and walked all around, passed the broken statues to the mirror on the other side of the room. Strangely it was broken, leaving only the mirror he'd come from usable. "Maybe I should leave…" Ventus mumbled before turning around and then stopped and rubbed his chin for a brief moment. "Then again… Master always said the search for knowledge is a never-ending quest… I might as well learn something while I'm here." Ventus mused to himself before walking over to and under the arches before making his way down a long corridor._

_Coming to a doorway, Ventus opened it up and blinked when he came out into a massive throne room, an ancient purple carpet rolled up to the throne and torn and tattered greatly. "Wow… I wonder what this place is." Ventus wondered while he walked out into the room and then over to the throne. Looking it over, Ventus then looked behind the throne and saw a strange keyhole of some kind giving off an eerie black light._

"_What the…" Ventus mumbled only to turn when something scurried behind him, making a noise. Blinking warily, Ventus then turned back to the throne and walked all around it. "Runes?" Ventus questioned when he noticed seals and patterns all over the back of the throne, and then started to scratch his head. "This world is seriously ancient if they used runes." He mused to himself before wondering why his master had even come to this world in the first place._

"_Better not worry about it. If Master wants to do something its not like I can stop him…" Ventus mused to himself before walking all around the throne room, down to a pool of… "B-b-blood!" Ventus demands while backing away from the pool and shivering violently. Taking several breaths to calm himself, the blond haired youth then looked back down at the pool warily. "Now I wonder why they had this here…" He mumbled before looking to several columns around the pool and then out into the world beyond it, the entire place looking like a swirling vortex of purple and black clouds, a twisted parody of the Broken-Kingdom visibly hovering within it…_

"_Man, this place is seriously creepy." Ventus mumbled to himself before turning around, yelping as he fell back when he found something standing behind him._

_The creature was only three feet tall, and it looked half skeletal, with flesh barely hanging onto its bones on its right arm and face and a pair of hellfire green eyes, it was garbed only in an ancient pair of forearm braces, an old belt with a skull buckle, and a strange symbol seemingly attached to its visible spine. "Yous best be quiets, place old, not deaf." The creature said before crawling away and Ventus blinked for a moment, still staring at where it had been only a second before._

"_Uhh… wait!" Ventus finally said while getting up and ran after the strange creature, turning to a door and throwing it open. "Hello?" He questioned loudly and a skeletal hand was suddenly clasped over his mouth._

"_No speak! No yell! No talk! Master's like sleeping and you wake 'em up if you too loud!" The thing hissed out while looking around skittishly for a moment and then started to breath a sigh of relief when nothing happened. "Master's blame me if they's be woken too soon!" The thing said before flipping off of Ventus and onto the ground, Ventus managing to get a clear and good look at the symbol on its back._

_The symbol had a spider like shape, however the spider was made out of several curled lines that didn't seem to be connected, instead they all somehow floated off of the creature, the legs of the Spider symbol giving it a pair of mock wings. Kneeling down as the creature looked all around, seemingly afraid of something coming to get it, Ventus tilted his head to one side. "Just what are you?" Ventus questioned and the thing spun around and pointed a single skeletal finger at him, hellfire green eyes narrowed onto him furiously._

"_Me's no talk to you! You's be silent! Masters need rest!" The thing stated angrily before jumping to the side and climbed up the length of a tapestry before swinging along the walls and made it's way deeper into the darkness of the castle. Blinking for a moment, Ventus then scratched his head while standing up, wondering what all that had been about and then spun around when he felt a dark presence._

"_Who's there?" He demanded while forming his Keyblade and a shadow rose up from the ground, Ventus taking a step back as it did so. The shadow soon rose up into the shape of a man, Ventus moving farther back as well. Soon a pair of Tendrils formed from the shadow, stretching out before five fingers formed out of their tips, a pair of legs formed soon after, its toes twisting into curls of some kind, a pair of large feathered wings bursting from its back, white as ivory with tips red as blood. Hunching over the thing let out a hollow moan as Darkness swirled over its form, its wings rotting at an unreal pace, soon leaving only skeletal remains of the once beautiful wings behind…_

"_W-What are y-you?" Ventus questioned fearfully while backing away, only to trip and backpedal while gazing at the creature with wide eyes. The deranged being then stood up fully, throwing its arms out fully, while a strange spiky mouth opened up as a low moan echoed out from it once more. Then before Ventus's eyes its form was covered by a column of spiraling black chains, the chains twisting around its form before fading away from view._

_Now a being encased in black leather bands had replaced the thing he'd seen before, its body was slender and yet held no visible male or feminine traits as far as he could see. Its leather bands gave it a look akin to a mummy only they deviated to form a black Half-Skirt of some kind that had a pair of belts that made an X over it's waist, a pair of thick manacles are worn over its wrists and ankles, with a thick choker collar around its neck, and what looked something like leather pauldrons over its shoulders, its face was completely encased in the bands over its body like a mask, save only for the odd metal muzzle it wore that bore a look akin to a devils grin._

"_The little one shouldn't make such a ruckus… he knows what will happen if he awakens our lord prematurely."__ The strange leather clad being noted while tilting its head to one side and Ventus shivered lightly. Its body may have been concealed, but its voice was disturbing to say the very least. It was a hollow rasp combined with a whispering tone, the disturbing thing being that it somehow also echoed out into eternity._

"_What are you?" Ventus questioned once more and the being tilted its head back up and mutely stared at him before the muzzle on its face opened up, literally like a mouth, two springs at the inside of it at both sides, and between them Ventus saw a strange sphere made of obsidian and amethyst._

"_What I am is of no importance, nor is WHO I am… or as the case may be, was…"__ The being replied before reaching to its muzzle and then gripped the sharp metal teeth of the top and bottom of its muzzle before it suddenly pulled its mouth open further. Ventus gasped as it did, watching with horror as the thing bent the upper portion of its head back to hang, and snapped its lower and upper jaw out of place with a sickening crack. Seeming unaffected by its horrible deed, it reached into its own maw and then took hold of the sphere as its colors swirled into one another._

_Dropping the sphere to the ground carelessly, the creature then grabbed the top of its head and its lower jaw before snapping them back into place, Ventus covering his mouth to keep from wrenching as he heard them emit another loud squelching crunch as the thing did so. Cracking its neck for a moment, the leather bound being then gazed at him silently for a brief moment. __"Wrack thy Heart… Kill thy shame… End all hope… and succumb to Pain…"__ The creature sang softly, its disturbing voice making the lyrics all the more ominous as it then turned on its heel and walked away, leaving the strange swirling sphere on the ground as it did._

"_Playing in an endless game… ruling in the Eternal Plain…"__ The strange being continued to sing as the Darkness slowly rose up and swallowed it whole… __"You may think us all quite deranged, you may think us quite insane…but I tell you now, we're all the same…"__ The monstrous beings voice continued to echo out across the room, Ventus looking around warily before it suddenly returned. __"We are servants to Lord Pain…"__ The creature's voice suddenly echoed out from all around Ventus, the blond haired youth looking at the sphere warily as it did._

'Should I take it?'_ Ventus wondered for a moment before slowly walking over to the sphere and tapped it with his Keyblade. Not seeing anything happen, Ventus then sat down and looked at the strange glowing sphere._

"_What is it?" Ventus wondered before dispersing his Keyblade and then reached out and took hold of the object. As he did, Ventus then yelped as Darkness consumed his vision only for him to reappear back in the first room… "W-what?" Ventus wondered as he looked back to the mirror that had led to the Dark-World… "No way." Ventus mumbled while standing up, the mirror now shattered completely… "How?" Ventus wondered before looking to his hand, the sphere of dark-energy still held within it._

"_What's going on around here?" Ventus wondered before turning around and running out of the room, a disturbed look on his face. _'I have got to find Master and fast!'_ The blond haired youth thought to himself as he ran through the halls of the strange castle… never looking back…_

(?)

Naruto groaned lightly as he slowly opened his eyes, and then placed a hand to his face with a grimace. "What the hell was that?" Naruto wondered to himself, feeling a cold shiver run down his spine at the strange dream. _'That thing it wasn't a Heartless… or a Nobody… or even a Soulless… so just what the hell was it?'_ The blond wondered for a moment before shaking his head and frowned. "Probably just a really weird dream…" He finally decided more to himself than anyone and started to look around, blinking when he saw a familiar blond woman standing above him with a frown.

"Agent Umbra, while I must admit it is convenient to see you again, I feel I must ask who these people with you are, and why exactly are you laying on the floor…?" Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Van-Helsing questioned with a frown, her arms crossed over her chest and a slender brow raised up to her forehead. Pushing himself up to a sitting position, the blond looked around and widened his eyes when he found himself in the Hellsing Manor once more. Blinking for a moment, he then noticed that Seras and Alucard were each holding a gun to both Larxene and Axel's heads…

"Yo! Nar could you maybe get Tall Dark and gruesome here to lower his weapons?" Axel pleaded while staring down the barrel of Alucard's massive silver colored gun, the red clad man smirking as he did.

"Alucard, leave Axel alone, Kitten, let Larxene go as well…" Naruto muttered while palming his face with a grimace, Seras twitching as he did and turning to glare at her fellow blond heatedly.

"I thought we had a talk about you calling me that!" She shouted at the blond and he waved her off while Xion and Tira started to get up.

"Oh my head…" Xion mumbled and Axel dropped into a Dark-Corridor and popped back up at her side.

"Xion, you okay?" Axel questioned while kneeling down next to her and Sir Integra raised a brow upon seeing him teleport. Blinking for a moment, the black-haired girl then looked to Axel for a moment before squinting her eyes.

"Axel?" She questioned and the red head grinned while offering her a hand. Accepting the hand, Xion was then hoisted to her feet by Axel, only to experience a momentary disorientation and wobble. Moving to catch her, Naruto helped Xion stand on her own two feet, allowing her to stand with a hand to her head. Looking around for a moment, the girl then stopped on Axel before tilting her head to one side. "Axel, is that really you?" She questioned and the red haired man grinned while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well who else would you expect me to be?" The red haired man questioned and Xion smiled slightly at the grin on the man's face.

"No one I guess, but it's still nice to see you haven't changed." She replied and Axel scoffed, Larxene snorting for a moment before looking back down the length of the barrel on Seras' admittedly large gun.

"Well what do you expect, I'm set in my ways and don't plan on changing anytime soon." Axel stated with a nod of his head, Xion giggling into her hand as he did while Naruto looked down as Tira and Alice slowly started to come too.

"I really don't like those Dark-Corridors, they are just ever so disorientating." Alice complained and Seras blinked before looking over to Alucard.

"Master, why is she dressed in something right out of Alice in Wonderland?" Seras questioned of her master and Alice turned upon hearing the familiar accent, then slowly got to her feet, brushed off her dress and gave a curtsy.

"Oh hello, I'm Alice Pleasance Liddell, how are you both." Alice said pleasantly and an amused look crossed Alucard's features as he put his gun away into his coat.

"Apparently, because she _is_ the Alice from Wonderland." Alucard replied while Seras gaped for a moment, lowering her gun from Larxene as the blond woman moved away from the, in her opinion, strange girl.

"B-b-but she's just a bloody story!" Seras stated and Alice tilted her head to one side while Alucard walked over to Alice and gave a grand bow.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance milady, I am known simply as, Alucard." The red clad man said while his orange-lensed glasses fell down along his nose, revealing his crimson red eyes to the girl. Shivering for a moment, the girl took a few steps away and hid behind Naruto, the blond shaking his head as a grin suddenly spread across Tira's face.

"Oh goody we're back on this world! Does this mean I get to kill more zombie things master?" Tira asked the blond with a bright smile and Naruto nodded his head with an amused look on his face, his servant nearly squealing with delight as he did. Clearing her throat to draw the group's attention onto her, Sir-Integra then frowned while folding her arms behind her back.

"As utterly interesting as it is to know I have a famous fantasy character in my home, I believe I asked you some questions, Agent-Umbra." Sir Integra reminded and Naruto nodded his head before letting out a breath.

"In order ma'am, I just landed here and I can't completely control where it is I'll land, not only that but its also very disorientating when I land so that's why I was on the ground. Second, these are some new friends. The three in black were once part of a group called Organization Thirteen. Axel, the Flurry of dancing Flames. Larxene, the Savage Nymph. And Xion who didn't have a title but uses a Keyblade like I do. Then we have Alice, who as Alucard said is from wonderland." Naruto explained and Sir Integra raised a brow while looking to the group for a moment then sighed.

"Walter!" She stated and the man seemed to come from nowhere, bowing to the platinum blond with a smirk.

"Yes Madam-Helsing?" He questioned and Sir-Integra noticed a look from Alice.

"Excuse me, if it's not too impertinent of me, may I please ask who you are miss?" Alice questioned politely and a slim smirk crossed Integra's lips for barely a moment before she turned to the auburn haired girl.

"I must say it's refreshing to see someone with proper manners again. Very well then, I am Sir Integral Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, Heir to the Hellsing family and leader of the Hellsing organization, and Knight of the Holy Order." Integra replied with a slight bow at the waist and Alice blinked before tilting her head to one side.

"Pardon me, but shouldn't it be Dame Helsing then? I thought for certain that a female Knight was called Dame, not Sir…" Alice said to herself and Walter chuckled while Integra twitched slightly before clearing her throat.

"Thanks to my father, I am also a Baronet as well as a Knight, but I've simply been called Sir through most formal functions and have seen no reason to stop it. A few people even make the foolish mistake of believing I'm a male, though this can also work to my advantage." Integra explained and Alice blinked before slowly nodding her head while Integra looked over to an amused Alucard and Walter. "Now then, Alucard you and Police Girl are dismissed. Walter would it be too much to ask for you to lead our guests to some available rooms." Integra ordered and Walter gave a bow as Alucard chuckled and vanished into the shadows.

"As you wish milady Hellsing." Walter replied before ushering the group towards the basement, Integra crossing her arms as Naruto passed.

"However Agent Umbra I must ask that you stay behind. I have some things that I need to discuss with you." Sir Integra then ordered, causing Naruto to stop and turn towards her while the others were ushered into the basement. Turning around to face the woman, Naruto walked over to stand at her side and looked to her with a raised brow.

"What do you need?" The blond haired teen questioned with a raised brow and Integra motioned for him to follow her as she walked up the stairs. Mentally sighing, Naruto followed behind the platinum haired woman who turned and walked over to her office silently. Walking in behind her, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and stood before her desk as she sat down. Reaching to the side she took hold of a cigar and preceded to light it and take a few puffs of it, then laced her fingers together while gazing at him silently.

"Agent-Umbra, first of all I want to say you have impeccable timing. Recently, we've been experiencing increased activity from the "Soulless" and I believe we've even found a "Leader" of some kind for them." Integra explained while reaching into her desk and producing a picture, which she then placed onto the desk. Walking forward, Naruto picked up the picture and frowned when he saw the creature on it.

It was a female Soulless, and much like the other purebred Soulless she had a pure white suit, a bolted gold Cross Flory Fitch on her chest, a bolted gold Cross Moline on either thigh, and she had a riveted gold "Grapevine Cross" formed over her face with what looked like strips of metal hair coming from the back of her head. Oddly, she had silver armor down the length of her left arm, forming into a claw at the end, a metal collar around her neck, her feet ending in what looked like heeled shoes, metal plate curving around her feet to cover her ankles, another over the top of her feet, another curved plate over her right bicep, a metal band around her wrist with a Heraldic Cross on the back of her hand, metal caps over the tips of her feet, a pair of curved plates over her hips, and a strange short-sword hanging from two belts around her waist, a cross as the buckle, all of the armor having rivets through them. (Court Soulless: Nephilim…)

Frowning to himself, Naruto narrowed his eyes on the strange Soulless for a moment before seeing how it was standing in front of a group of Soulless Fanatics, Prisms, Acolytes, and Zealots… "Where was this taken?" Naruto questioned while looking over to Integra with a frown, the woman removing the cigar from her lips to blow out some smoke before lacing her fingers together.

"Unfortunately that location is why this is most urgent business Agent Umbra. That Soulless was spotted on top of the firing range less than two days ago. And it almost appeared as if they were scouting around for weaknesses in our defenses. Given that the Iscariot Organization has some control over the Soulless, I originally believed this to be Treachery on their part, however upon learning of this Unique "Gold" Soulless, I felt it was perhaps something entirely different." Sir Integra explained while pulling more photos from her Desk and laying them out for the blond haired teen to see.

"You believe that the Soulless now want to get you?" Naruto questioned of the platinum blond and she frowned deeply for a moment, her sharp blue eyes narrowing on him dangerously.

"Unfortunately yes. Given the Soulless sole mission is to eradicate Darkness from the worlds, I believe they seek to destroy me, a "Shadowed Princess" much like they tried to destroy yourself… and if I'm not mistaken, that Alice girl with you is also a Shadowed Princess, is she not?" Integra questioned and Naruto nodded his head silently while looking over the pictures, frowning when he saw a menagerie of different types of soulless in them.

"Prisms. Acolytes. Fanatics. Zealots. Crusaders. And even some I've never seen before, it looks like the Purebloods are really starting to come out of the wood works now." Naruto muttered to himself as he picked up two of the pictures, each one depicting a different type of Soulless in it, his Spellbinder of Knowledge identifying them for him almost instantly.

The first was a large male Soulless, it was in a white suit with a grey riveted Cross Flory Fitch over its chest, a Grey Cross Moline on either thigh, a single billowing white feathered wing on its left side, and a grey riveted "Cross Crosslet" for a mask, a C shaped Halo hovering over its head. It had grey segmented armor down its sides attaching to the cross on its chest / torso, a riveted collar worked around its neck, from its shoulders down to its hands it wore heavy looking armor, grey Heraldic Crosses over its pauldrons and gauntlets as decoration, its knees down to its feet were also covered in armor, a Heraldic Cross on its knee guards, two sturdy belts are worn around its waist, chain-mail armor falling from it with a white codpiece over its groin, finishing the heavy warrior's gear is a scarf around its neck that falls almost like a cape, and a large Sword and Shield held in its hands. (Pureblood Soulless: Paladin…)

The second was smaller, slimmer, unlike the large burly Paladin, this one looked small and wiry. It like its brethren had a white body with a Riveted Cross Moline on each thigh, a Riveted Cross Flory Fitch on its chest / stomach, a C shaped Halo hovering over its head, however, this one had a large cross hanging on its back, a "Cross Potent" over its face to make a mask. This being wore tattered strips of white cloth with all manor of buckled straps over its form, its posture was slouched and it even appeared to be dragging the cross it was carrying on its right shoulder… (Pureblood Soulless: Martyr…)

"Oh this is so not good, some of these are Second Tier Soulless…" Naruto mumbled to himself and Sir Integra raised a brow in his direction.

"Second Tier? Explain." She ordered and Naruto silently nodded his head before looking at her with a grave expression.

"As far as I know, the basic Female Soulless are also the weakest, there are four of them, and so I call them the Third Tier Soulless. Above them is the basic batch of Male Soulless, the Second Tier. And above those is the third Tier, the Unique Soulless and who I'm guessing are their leaders." Naruto explained and a slim frown crossed Sir Integra's lips at that tidbit before leaning back in her seat.

"I see. Now then Agent Umbra, I must request that you remain on the premises until we find and eliminate this Soulless Leader. In a few days, a certain group of persons shall be coming to the manor for a meeting of sorts. I wish for you to help ensure their safety as well as my own… can I count on you for this?" Sir Integra explained then questioned of the blond haired teen and Naruto smirked while crossing his arms.

"Of course you can, Lady-Hellsing. Besides, it's not like I have anything better to do on this world." The blond replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders, a smirk slowly forming across Integra's lips as he did.

"Very good, you are dismissed. Your quarters are the same as last time, Agent Umbra…" Sir Integra stated and Naruto nodded his head before walking out of the office, and leaving the platinum blond haired woman to her thoughts…

(Radiant Garden…)

Mickey was looking to Ansem the Wise as they all sat in the computer room, the blond man smiling towards his computer. "I'm glad you've been able to reassert control Tron, had I known what Xehanort was up too I would have tried to stop him." Ansem assured and the computer hummed for a moment before Tron answered him.

"Please think nothing of it User Ansem, I was merely fulfilling my primary programming." Tron replied and Ansem nodded his head before turning around to face Mickey and the others while lacing his fingers together.

"I've had Tron wire a message to Sora and Riku's Gumi-Ships via Cid's transmitter, hopefully they will get them soon and I can discuss my most recent discoveries about the balance between Light and Darkness with all of you." Ansem said while leaning back with a slight frown and Mickey looked to Leon who shrugged.

"Ansem the Wise, isn't there anything you can tell us about why the Heartless are still coming?" Mickey pleaded and Aqua nodded her head, and the blond man reached up and rubbed his mustache for a moment before nodding his head.

"Yes… the Heartless continue to attack our worlds, because a force of Light attacks the worlds of Darkness…" Ansem replies and Mickey looks at the man in shock as he then looks to them all gravely. "These creatures are blinded by light unlike you Mickey, they see only enemies in Darkness. They wish not only to protect the realm of Light but to purge Darkness from all things entirely…" Ansem explained and Mickey's eyes widened at that tidbit of knowledge.

"A-And I took the Dark-Worlds keyblade from them! Oh no!" Mickey said as he realized what his own actions might have done and Ansem merely raised a hand.

"Calm yourself Mickey, the realm of Darkness is not lost yet… and they have a Keybearer all there own I'm sure. Although I must admit the balance between our two realms has been completely ruined by these creatures of Light… these Soulless." Ansem said while drumming his fingers on the rest of his chair while Mickey seemed more than a little nervous.

'_Master Yen-Sid was right… I really need to think more about my actions before I act… I took the Dark-Realm's Keyblade and now their being destroyed, this is worse than that time I spilled turpentine on that model of Master's, or the time when I flooded his tower…'_ Mickey thought to himself while wincing at the memories of two of his biggest blunder while under the watchful eyes of Master Yen-Sid.

"Now then Mickey, I believe we have other matters to attend to before Sora and Riku arrive." Ansem suddenly stated, drawing the king out of his musings as he looked to the man in confusion. "When I and my guards first found Xehanort, we also found a suit of armor that was clearly meant for a woman to wear, as well as a Keyblade beside of it… would those be yours Aqua?" The blond man questioned with a raised brow and bluenette blinked before nodding her head.

"Y-Yeah, I kind of fought Ter… Xehanort on this world. He locked his heart and started to slip into Darkness, so I used my Armor to pull him out of it." The girl replies while Leon scowls deeply, sitting in a nearby seat with his feet propped up on the computer consol.

"If you'd have just let him fall you would've saved us all a lot of trouble…" The man noted while turning a slight glare towards Aqua, only to grunt as Zack kicked the back of his seat.

"Hey, leave the pretty lady alone Leon, she probably had her reasons for what she did." Zack states before grinning as he looks over to Aqua her eyes widening as she recognizes the significantly older man… "Right, Aqua? After all, you are a real hero." Zack noted thoughtfully and Aqua shook her head for a moment while staring at the black haired man intently.

"Z-Zack… is that really you?" Aqua questioned while staring at the black haired man for a moment. Honestly, he looked so different from when she last saw him, he was clearly older, his hair was longer and in a different style, his clothes looked different, he had a scar on his cheek, and lets not forget he was carrying a MASSIVE sword on his back as if it didn't weigh anything…

"What? You mean to say you couldn't tell before?" Zack questions with an amused look and Aqua shakes her head while he hangs his head. "Aw man… and here I thought I was more memorable than that…" Zack mused before chuckling as he started to do squats in place. "Aw well, it's not like I'm too surprised…" Zack says while Aerith giggles to the side and Aqua looks over to Mickey.

"I'm as surprised as you… I heard he died…" Mickey admitted while both Key-Bearers heard Zack chuckle nervously before shrugging his shoulders.

"You should know that a little thing like death couldn't possibly keep a real Hero down." Zack noted while Aqua shook her head while crossing her arms over her chest with a smirk.

"Oh really? And when did you become a real Hero?" The bluenette questioned of the black haired man playfully, causing him to stop his squats and stand up before he considered that for a moment.

"Not sure… but I remember that I wanted to know if I became a hero sometime after I saved Cloud a while back… I think it happened some time after me and Sephiroth fought one another." The black haired man admitted while crossing his arms and Leon gave the man a look for a moment.

"You actually fought against Sephiroth?" The brown haired man questioned and Zack nodded his head while remembering a few events afterwards… including fighting over 15,000 Heartless on his own… only for those freaky white things to come in and kill him after he used a little power of Darkness… _'Yeah, I really need to get those things for that.'_ Zack noted inwardly to himself, and though no one saw, his eyes briefly flashed an odd green color…

"As interesting as all this is, I believe we have somehow gotten off of our original subject." Ansem noted and the others nodded while grinning sheepishly as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Now then, I believe I should return your armor and Keyblade to you post haste." Ansem commented as he turned around and then began to type on his computer before opening the door to the room that lay below the castle. "Mickey my old friend, could you please show Aqua the way? I believe Xehanort had it taken to a room he calls the "Room of Repose" somewhere beneath the castle. I'll have Tron open the way for you." Ansem asked and the mouse king, the king smiling towards his old friend weakly as he does so.

"Sure thing, I know the way…" The king replies while turning to Aqua. "Ready?" He asks and the bluenette nods her head before following the mouse out of the room. Once the two have left, Ansem grunts lightly while turning around to face his computer. Meanwhile at the very back of the room, Sakura was staring intently at Spawn, wondering if this was what Sasuke had become while Kakashi leaned back and rubbed his temples tiredly.

"Why oh why do things always have to go so wrong for us?" He wondered and Sakura looked to him for a moment, causing him to sigh once more. "First our world is destroyed, then we land here without any of our friends, then we find Sasuke, only he's not human anymore." Kakashi explained and Sakura frowned while staring towards the Heartless and then tilted her head to one side.

"Can we be sure that's even, Sasuke?" She wondered and Kakashi rolled his eye for a moment before frowning towards the Heartless in thought. _'Friendly or not Sasuke, what you said you did was beyond horrible, just what did you become as a Somebody…'_ Kakashi wondered to himself before closing his eye, wondering what life was going to throw at him next, Obito returning from the grave!

Meanwhile, Mickey and Aqua walked into the doorway and down into the long spiral staircase. Looking to Mickey for a moment, Aqua frowned as she saw an almost haunted look on the poor mouse features. "Mickey." Aqua called out and the said mouse blinked before looking over to her. "Are you alright?" She questioned worriedly and Mickey smiled weakly even as he walked down the stairs.

"Sort of… I just wonder how many times I'm going to cause so much damage to others lives when I'm only trying to help…" Mickey admitted while forming Dark-Side and looking at the keyblade silently for a few moments. Looking to her friend worriedly Aqua closed her eyes and wondered how she could help him before looking upwards.

"We all make mistakes Mickey… I… I sort of grew apart from Ven and Terra after I became a Master." Aqua suddenly admitted while reaching up to rub her arms, eyes closing as she remembered her own mistakes. "Ven noticed it immediately, he told me that I'd changed but I… I didn't know how… I thought I was still myself, I was still Aqua… but I had changed." Aqua explained while closing her eyes and Mickey looked to the bluenette and blinked for a moment.

"How so?" The mouse questioned and Aqua smiled sadly for a moment.

"It's… its hard to explain Mickey. I was so caught up in being a Keyblade Master, in following orders to the letter, I slowly started to lose faith in Terra, to the point that I began to doubt him… Back before I was a master Terra, Ventus, and I couldn't have been closer… but afterwards, while I was traveling the worlds I started to doubt, Terra… and I treated Ven like he was just a child." Aqua continues while closing her eyes, a hand placed over her heart as they continue down towards the Room-of-Repose.

"I've made mistakes as well Mickey, I hurt my friends without ever meaning too just by not trusting them like I should have… and I'm guilty of blindly following the Light when I should have seen to the security of the balance between both Light and Darkness." Aqua said and then turned to give Mickey a smile as he looked to her. "But that doesn't mean I'll give up. So long as I can, I'll look for what the truth is, I find a way to fix what is broken." Aqua stated with conviction and Mickey smiled before nodding his head in agreement with the girl.

"Yeah, no matter how long it takes, we'll find a way to fix the worlds." Mickey agreed with a nod and Aqua bowed her head slightly for a moment.

"Speaking of time… just… just how long have I been gone Mickey?" Aqua questioned, causing Mickey to stop and look around nervously. "Mickey?" Aqua urged and the king sighed before rubbing his head for a moment and not meeting the bluenette's gaze.

"T-Twelve years…" He admitted and Aqua's eyes widened before she turned around slowly and looked down.

"Years…" She whispered before slowly trudging down the stairs, Mickey slowly following after her before they came to a door. "I've been gone for years…" Aqua mumbled while Mickey unlocked the way to the room of sleep before taking hold of Aqua's hands and leading her down the long corridor. "But… But I've only been in the Realm of Darkness for a week…" Aqua mumbled out and Mickey winced, knowing that the loss of time alone was going to be hell for her to get used too…

"It'll be alright Aqua, we'll get through this!" Mickey assured and Aqua gave a weak smile to her friend as they came to the final doorway and Mickey opened it. Walking into the room, Aqua halted and widened her eyes at the room she saw before her. Slowly walking into the room, Aqua looked to the symbols on the walls, the chains leading down from them before coming to a throne in the center of the room.

"This is like the room where I left, Ventus…" Aqua mumbled before placing a hand onto the throne and turning to face it. Briefly, as if a ghost of the past, Aqua saw Terra sitting in the throne, only to vanish as she placed a hand to her heart. "Terra." She whispered and then turned to see her Keyblade and Armor on the ground. Holding out a hand, she called the armor and keyblade back to herself and it shot up before spinning around… however it then started to form together on its own, not covering her, as it should have done.

"What's going on?" Aqua questions while the armor then formed her old Keyblade and took a stance opposite them.

"It looks like your armor has a life of its own…" Mickey noted while forming his Keyblade into his hand, Aqua calling out her Master Eraqus's Keyblade into her hand while narrowing her eyes on the armor as it stood across from them…

(Destiny Islands…)

Destiny Islands, once a peaceful tiny place, a place where nothing bad ever seemed to happen… until today. Today, the small island just off the coast of the main island has been set ablaze. The fires burn the trees, the tree houses, and everything else in their path, claiming everything the island had to offer. Chuckling darkly as he watched his work, Kyuubi stood before the flames and threw his arms to his sides, laughing loudly as the island was slowly burned to the ground. The flaming horse given to him by Chernabog was nearby, watching on silently as the former Bijuu enjoyed his work.

"**Ahh… I'd actually forgotten the sheer **_**pleasure**_** of destroying a humans most treasured memories."** Kyuubi said while watching the island burn down to the ground, the flames reflecting in his helmet as he did. However, the demon then chuckled as he felt a presence coming at him from behind. Forming his Keyblade in hand, the demon then turned and blocked a sword, blinking for a moment before grinning darkly when he found a Blond haired kid with a Sword was attacking him. _**'Hello misplaced aggression!'**_ The Kyuubi thought to himself while pushing the blond haired teen back then kicking the blond in the sternum, knocking him back.

Crouching down, Kyuubi narrowed his eyes even as he grinned, watching the blond haired kid flip back before landing in a crouch, a crystal blue sword in hand. However, coming from the side two more teens ran over, one having what looked like a ball, the other a pair of nunchaku. The teen with the ball twisted around and threw his ball towards Kyuubi, the malicious demon chuckling darkly as he blocked, then knocked it flying back at him. However, the red head rolled out of the way and kicked the ball into the air before catching it in hand, all three teens standing against the Kyuubi.

The blond of the three had a lean athletic build, his hair was semi-short and framed the sides of his face, he was wearing a yellow vest with a white hood, a black pauldron on his left shoulder with red cords down into a black gauntlet overtop a black glove, another black glove on his right hand with a chain around his forearm, a necklace with an almost heart shaped symbol hanging from his neck, a pair of odd pants with one leg longer than the other, with some suspenders with a belt over them and a pouch at the back of his waist over the pants, a red chain falling from his right hip with red feathers on it, and last he wore a pair of blue shoes with odd socks sticking out of them. (Tidus: Disidia Final Fantasy…)

Beside of him was the red haired teen, who also had a lean athletic build however was taller, his red hair was pulled up into an odd curl, while some red stubble was at the edge of his chin, his skin being darker than the other two, and his eyes a deep brown color. The teen wears a blue bandana over his forehead, with a necklace with a fish hanging from his neck, a leather bracer on his right forearm, with leather armor over the length of his left arm, a strange "shirt" of some kind with straps over his shoulders and a slit at his naval, a pair of blue pants with a brown belt, yellow chaps worn over them with X shaped straps down them, and finally is a pair of sandals. (Wakka: FFX…)

Finally is the girl of the group with a pair of long red nunchaku with a short chain held in her hands, her skin is pale and her physique is wiry at best, her brown hair is formed into two upward curls at the back of her neck, while she also wears a necklace only it's a simple chain, she wears a simple yellow dress with a zipper down the front of it and a pocket on the back, a blue band wrapped around her left arm, and brown boots over her legs. (Selphie: FFVIII…)

"Yo man, what do you think you doing!" The red haired man demanded of the Kyuubi, causing the demonic entity to chuckle darkly. However when the beast didn't answer, his blond friend clenched a fist and narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Okay freak, start talking before we're forced to really hurt you!" The blond ordered and Kyuubi laughed once more before throwing his arms to his sides.

"**Oh you Ningen never cease to amaze me, such pathetic and predictable creatures."** The Kyuubi noted aloud while crossing his arms over his chest, the three seeming to tense at the sound of his demonic voice. **"What I'm doing is simple. I'm burning this place to the ground!"** The Kyuubi then explained in a clearly amused tone of voice, the girl of the group looking at him in shock.

"But why?" Selphie questioned of him, clearly confused by the Demonic entities actions and Kyuubi chuckled darkly while shaking his head.

"**Why?"** He questioned while looking at her as if she were stupid, then fell into a short bout of near psychotic laughter. Soon regaining control of himself, the Kyuubi narrowed his eyes with an evil grin on his face as he gazed at the trio. **"Do I need a reason to destroy? Do I need a reason to burn away cherished childhood memories? No… I don't do this for a reason, because I don't **_**need**_** a reason… I did this simply because its **_**fun**_**!"** Kyuubi declared while throwing his arms out to his sides and Tidus grit his teeth while glaring at the red/black seeker angrily.

"Alright I've heard enough out of you, I'll make you pay for what you've done!" The blond haired teen declared while the Kyuubi merely twirled his Keyblade in hand for a moment, and then took a stance with it. His three opponents quickly did the same, the Kyuubi mentally grinning as they accepted his challenge.

"**Yes. Yes, Ningen! Come forth, and lead yourselves to the slaughter!"** Kyuubi declared while red flames seemed to form from every portion of his body it could, spiraling into the air and twisting into the sky as he then lunged forward, swinging his keyblade at the shocked humans…

(?)

"_All flesh is grass and all the comeliness there of is the field. The grass withereth. The flower fadeth. But the word of our god abideth __**forever**__!" A man with a thick accent recited while plunging a wooden stake into the chest of a man. There was a spray of blood from the chest of the man, before his mouth opened to reveal numerous sharp teeth, blood shooting from his mouth as well. Opening his crimson red eyes, the staked man looked up and saw a shadowed, silhouetted figure, standing over him, not as a "mere mortal" would, but as a true man, a human worthy of the name._

"_Have I been… bested, sir?" The man questioned as he leaned back, blood trailing down from his nose, as a long streak formed from the corner of his eye, almost like a bloody tear._

"_Yes, you are bested. This will not be a nightmare you will be awaking from. Your castles are plundered, your dominions in ruin, your servants destroyed, and the girl has fled this place, forevermore!" The man stated as his sharp blue eyes glared down into the crimson red eyes of his opponent. "She will never be yours, __**Count**__!" The man stated and the "Count" at his feet was silent, simply staring into the azure eyes of the man. Clenching his fist, the man quickly raised his arm into the air before slamming it down onto the stake in the Count's chest. The Count's eyes suddenly widened greatly and he uttered a strangled cry, flying back in the air as blood spurted from his wounded chest._

_Reaching forward, the man with the sharp azure blue eyes took hold of the Count's cloak and pulled him face to face with himself. "You are trapped and found wanting, Vampire King!" The man stated as his azure blue eyes gazed deeply into the Count's own crimson orbs. "You have nothing! You __**are**__ nothing!" The man stated darkly while the Count felt as his own blood flow down his body in waves. "__**Nothing**__!" The man finished as the count's eyes grew heavy, then slowly sealed shut, the vision of his opponent fading into darkness…_

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

Deep in the bowls of the Hellsing Manor, in a room that is kept separate from all others. A coffin is placed upon the ground, the words "The Bird of Hermes is my name, eating my wings and making me tame" are upon it, while a familiar man sits upon an old wooden chair. Beside of the chair is a small table a familiar pair of orange-lensed glasses and a glass of red liquid sitting up it. However as the dream fades, the man in red, Alucard himself, finds himself awakening with a gasp of air his eyes opened wide. Breathing for a few moments, the ancient Vampire then raises a hand and notices blood dribbling from his right eye.

"Dreaming…" Alucard whispers quietly, a strange look across his face while his crimson red eyes seem to glow in the dim light. "It was just a dream." The man decides before sneering darkly as he gazes down at the blood on his hand and clenches his fist. "It was _nothing_." He decides nearly echoing the words of the azure-eyed man in his dream before looking to the side, where his glass of blood tilts over and spills out onto his table. The Vampire watches the blood for a moment, as it slowly spreads, then starts to drip from his table, the sound echoing within his room loudly, continuously, while he gazes at the crimson pool it forms silently…

Elsewhere in Hellsing manor, Sir-Integra sits in a seat at the end of a large slightly rounded table, gazing forward intently. "Well now, the situation must be impossibly dire if you've got the gall to convene a round-table conference." An aged man with a monocle notes aloud while staring down the length of the table towards the smirking woman. "Am I right, Sir-Integra?" The man questioned with a raised brow of the woman, a cane held in hand, the platinum blond not letting her smirk fade for even a moment.

"Yes." She replies simply, one hand overtop the other as she gazes towards the man, only to look to the side as another speaks.

"Civilian reports about Vampire attacks on British soil have been rising over the passed few months." The man noted aloud while the man at his right side nodded his head and leaned forward slightly.

"We can't keep this quiet for much longer." He states and Integra turns her eyes to the other side of the table as another man leans forward to speak.

"There are limits to the information we can suppress." He states simply while turning his eyes down to the platinum blond woman who is remaining oddly silent. "What is going on, Sir-Integra?" The man then questioned of her and she was silent once more, considering her answer in her head before breathing out slightly.

"We have been conducting a thorough investigation into the matter, and finally we have come across our first solid piece of evidence." The platinum blond replied while moving one arm down to the table and the other into her pocket. Feeling around for but a second she then withdrew a simple looking microchip and held it up for all to see.

"And what exactly is that supposed to be?" A man at the right of the monocle wearing man questioned and a slim smirk crossed Integra's lips.

"A transmitter, perhaps much more." She replied and looked around the table, noting the questioning gazes upon the men's faces before continuing. "We've been finding this microchips imbedded within the Vampires. This chips seem to monitor the creatures physical and mental states, movements, and altercations." Sir-Integra explained to the men and the man who asked about the chip stood from his sit with a wide eyed expression across his face.

"Good god!" He exclaimed while placing his hands onto the table and yet Sir-Integra remained unperturbed.

"These attacks are not random, there's someone creating these Vampires, controlling them, moving towards some unknown purpose." Sir-Integra explained while reaching to the side to lay the chip down, and then picked up a cigar, still smirking towards the group of men. "And that's not all, it gets worse." Integra added while watching the men and one looked at her as if she were crazy.

"What?" He questioned lightly before calming himself and taking a quick breath. "Please, go on." He insisted and Integra silently nodded her head, a frown suddenly crossing her features.

"These are different." She stated while lifting a lighter up and lighting her cigar, holding it to her lips and taking a quick drag from it. "Traditionally, Ghouls come from deflowered men and women once drained of blood from a Vampire. But not anymore." Integra explained while blowing out a bit of smoke, obscuring her from the men's vision for a brief moment. "During these last few incidents, not one new Vampire has been created. Even young boys and girls who were clearly virgins have become Ghouls instead of Vampires. Also, the traditional Ghouls in the past do not survive the destruction of their host." Sir-Integra continued before closing her eyes and folding her hands together.

"But during the Badrick incident, Vatican agent Anderson, claimed to have destroyed the Vampire well before our arrival." Sir-Integra continued to explain while removing her Cigar and digging it into a nearby ashtray. "The Host Vampire had already been dispatched… and yet the Ghouls still walked." Sir-Integra finished while staring intently down the length of the Round-Table.

"So what does it all mean." The man with the monocle questioned and Sir-Integra took a breath before closing her eyes, the glare of the light around the room catching on her glasses as she does.

"We are at war against a conspiracy of Vampire experts, and they're displaying remarkable skill. Gentlemen. The enemy is just like us." Sir-Integra finished while gazing at the assembled men around the table intently…

Outside of the manor, Xion, Axel, and Larxene are walking together, a smile across Axel's face. "Man its nice to have you back, Xion. If Roxas was here it'd be better but you know what I mean." Axel noted aloud with a smirk, Xion nodding her head while Larxene looked at her with her eyes scrunched.

"You know, whenever I used to see you you never looked like this…" She noted aloud and both Axel and Xion looked to the blond haired woman.

"Really, then what'd you see me as?" Xion questioned of the blond haired woman and Larxene crossed her arms over her chest.

"Honestly. I saw a walking organization Cloak with a doll or something inside of it…" She admitted, Xion grimacing before a frown crossed over Axel's lips as he cupped his chin in thought.

"Now that you mention it, when you first joined up with us Xion, I saw this blond haired kid… he looked a lot like Rocas only he wore a black and white outfit and an armored shoulder guard…" Axel admitted while placing his hands onto his hips, Xion blinking for a moment before tilting her head to one side.

"Really, I think Xigbar saw me like that as well…" Xion admitted and Larxene growled before glaring at the two.

"Alright, alright, so we all saw you differently when you first joined! Can we move on to something else?" The blond haired woman demanded while crossing her arms over her chest and Xion nodded her head in agreement.

"Well… what can you tell me about that Naruto boy, he looked a lot like Roxas." Xion noted aloud and Axel nodded his head for a moment before smirking to his dark haired friend.

"You know I thought the same thing at first, and he even acts like Roxas at some times… But anyways, the guy can be kind of serious at times, but he can also liven up. He's saving the Dark-Worlds in a way that's similar to Sora, but he doesn't seem to try and hide his presence in the worlds. Oh yeah, and he has a servant named Tira who obeys him because he's carrying around a Soul-Sword or something…" Axel explained to Xion with a nod of his head, the girl blinking and then looked around for a moment.

"Where is that Tira girl anyways?" She questioned of her red haired friend with a raised brow and a grin crossed Larxene's features when she heard someone scream out in pain from nearby.

"Oh I think I know…" Larxene noted aloud and snickered into her hand as they saw Tira being held back by Alice, a member of the Hellsing Army on the ground with wide eyes.

"I thought I told you idiots not to touch master's property!" Tira shouted while Alice sighed and pulled her away from the man.

"Master's property?" Xion questioned and Larxene snickered to herself once more.

"She gave her mind, soul, and body to that soul stealing sword, so she means don't touch her body cause it belongs to her Master…" Larxene explained and a blush crossed Xion's face while Axel raised a brow.

"So, what about her heart?" He questioned and Tira stopped trying to gut the man and gave him a look.

"Oh that thing? My master killed me, destroyed my heart completely, and then revived me without it a long time ago. It was a useless part of me anyways, and not to mention that it was just so annoying having that thing in the first place. Besides, I like not having one now!" The girl declared and Axel looked to Larxene, and then palmed his face when he saw her grinning.

"Right on, Sister! I'm with you!" Larxene declared and Xion rolled her eyes, figuring that Larxene now had someone who she could relate too…

Meanwhile three meters below, in the basement of the Hellsing manor, another scene is taking place in the room of miss Seras Victoria. Inside, the blond haired woman is gaping with a twitching brow towards a coffin with a cross on its lid sitting in the middle of her room. Meanwhile on the other side of the coffin is Walter, his arms folded behind his back, while Naruto is standing at the side of the room. "Walter, what the hell is this… _thing_!" The blond haired girl demanded and Naruto snickered to himself while grinning at her from the side of the room.

"That thing you're referring too is a _coffin_." Walter replied and Naruto had to cover his mouth while Seras twitched visibly. Moving over the Coffin she neared Walter, the man moving back slightly as she does so.

"I know… _why_ is there a Coffin in my bedroom?" Seras asked with a flat look on her face and Walter took a step away from her and cleared his throat.

"Oh… its here on orders from Sir-Integra." Walter replied and Naruto had to hold his ribs while barely suppressing his laughter at that tidbit of information. "She said and I quote. "We can't have a Vampire who doesn't sleep in a coffin." So there you are." Walter added, causing Naruto to suddenly burst out into laughter, falling to his side and holding his ribs.

"Oh dear Kami-Sama that's rich! And here I thought she didn't have a sense of humor!" The blond said while placing a hand over his mouth to control his laughter, yet snorts and snickers still managed to escape regardless.

"What have you done with my _bed_?" Seras then asked while ignoring the snickering form of Naruto, though inwardly promised to get him back for the laughter at some point. In response to her question, Walter snapped his heels together, took several steps back, and bowed to her at the waist.

"I had it _disposed_ of, of course…" The old man replied and Seras was silent for several moments, Naruto pulling himself to his feet while wiping a tear from his eye.

"Oh man I needed that, things have been way too tense on the other worlds for my health!" Naruto said to himself while brushing off his coat, then looked to Seras and saw her grinding her teeth together…

"WALTER!" She exclaimed loudly and Naruto looked at the girl warily as she made a face and glared at the old man, her eyes a brilliant crimson red. _'Am I that scary when I'm angry…?'_ Naruto wondered to himself while gazing at his fellow blond warily, Walter seeming unperturbed by her expression.

"Fine, if it helps the orders were confirmed by Alucard as well." Walter added and the effect was almost instant, Seras eyes returned to Azure blue and she gazed at the old man in confusion.

"Master?" She asked and Walter placed one arm behind his back while his monocle caught the light.

"Yes. Since your still refusing to drink _blood_ like a proper Vampire, you will slowly become weaker. You must now sleep in a coffin with the soil of your birthplace, this smallest of concessions is the only way to keep up your strength." Walter explained and Seras bowed her head and folded her hands together in front of her, Naruto sighing as he felt bummed just looking at the girl in this kind of state. "Please, why do you _refuse_ to drink? Is it really such an evil think to partake of donated _blood_ when you need it to live?" The old man questioned and Seras looked to the side with an uncomfortable expression, a frown crossing Naruto's face as she did.

"I don't know… But… if I _do_ drink the blood, it feels as if something will have ended _forever_…" The blond woman replied while looking to the floor and a slightly annoyed look crossed Walter's features.

"I take it your still _uncomfortable_ with the situation?" Walter asked the girl with a raised brow and Naruto growled lowly, his own eyes turning a familiar Golden-Yellow color as he does.

"Hey, I think she gets it, Walter!" Naruto growled out while walking over to the old man with a frown on his face, Seras blinking as he does. "Look, give her some time to at the very least get used to all these changes. It's a bit much to ask for anyone to have to change their entire lifestyle in a matter of weeks!" Naruto stated and Walter merely raised a brow towards the blond haired teen.

"She is a _Piss ant_." Came a familiar dark voice, Naruto growling as he turned to see Alucard standing at the doorway. "I'm starting to wish I never bothered to suck her blood. At least then she could've died as a human." The man noted aloud while Naruto scowled deeply, towards the man, Seras wincing at the harsh words from the man.

"M-Master?" She questioned while Alucard looked at Naruto silently.

"And you are an idiot." Alucard added and Naruto grumbled while turning a glare onto the red clad man, Seras looking between the two worriedly. "She chose the night. Once she turned her back on the light of day all the Sunlight should ever mean to her is smoldering pain and a slow death." Alucard stated darkly and Naruto crossed his arms with a frown, Seras wincing at that tidbit. Seeing the looks, a strange expression then crossed Alucard's features. "But… maybe this too could work. There may be a place for a timid "Evening Walker" like you." Alucard mused aloud while looking to Seras and the blond girl blinked while looking at him, Naruto staring at him strangely as well…

'_Was he… actually just __**nice**__ to her?'_ Naruto wondered to himself while Seras escaped her surprised stupor and smiled to her master.

"O-Okay!" She said happily while Alucard walked into the room, and Walter made his way over to the side.

"Good evening, Alucard, I have something very special I was hoping to show you." The old man noted while placing a hand onto a black case on a desk at the far side of the room. Raising a brow, Alucard made his way over to the man, leaving Naruto and Seras behind as he reached forward and opened the case. Murmuring something under his breath quietly as he saw a large black gun that almost mirrored his own silver gun, the words "Jesus Christ is in Heaven now" on its side, a small grin crossed his features.

"What is this?" Alucard questioned, clearly intrigued by the gun and Walter smirked as the red clad man pulled it from the case.

"The Jackal, a custom made anti-freak combat pistol. It fires custom made rounds, far more powerful than the 454 casul rounds you're used to. The barrel is 39cm long, 16kg in weight, six rounds per magazine. Far too much gun for any human to handle." Walter explained as Alucard looked at the gun with a look on his face.

"And the rounds?" He questioned as he gazed upon the weapon intently, Walter smirking in response.

"13mm explosive shells." Walter replied and a strange grin started to form on Alucard's face.

"Casings?" The Red clad Vampire questioned once more.

"Pure Macedonian Silver." Walter replied with a smile and Alucard narrowed his eyes onto the gun.

"Gunpowder?" He questioned and a smirk crossed Walter's features.

"Marvells chemicals cartridge N.N.A.9." Walter replied quickly and Alucard looked at the magazine with the bullets narrowing his eyes on their tips.

"And the tips, explosive of mercury?" He asked and Walter folded his arms behind his back before answering him.

"Mercury tips, and they're already blessed." The old man replied while Alucard inserted the magazine into the base of the gun with a click.

"Its _perfection_, Walter." Alucard said while looking over to the old man, Walter adorning a proud smirk upon hearing the praise from the No-Life-King.

"I am pleased that you're pleased sir." Walter replied with a bow at the waist and Alucard looked at the gun with a wide Cheshire cat grin on his face. Seras walking passed Naruto to look at the enormous handgun the No-Life-King was holding.

"I bet this beauty could even stop father Anderson dead in his tracks." The No-Life-King decided while Seras looked at the gun from every angle she could, clearly admiring the weapon.

"My god master, that's amazing!" She declared and Naruto raised his brow, almost certain he could see stars in her eyes as she hovered around her master.

"Ah yes, Mister Uzumaki, I have something very special for you as well." Walter then said, drawing the blond haired teens attention, Seras looking over as well. Walking to the side, Walter knelt down and picked up a rather large case before making his way back to Naruto. Standing before the blond teen, Walter reached forward and lifted up the case, revealing several weapons inside of it. Within was a silver single-edged short-sword, the hilt was designed like a wolf with three eyes biting the base of the blade and four curled tails forming the handle itself with black leather wrappings over it coming off of it as short tattered ribbons. Also in the case was numerous Throwing knives, each one made from Silver with a noticeable bird motif, a Raven if he wasn't mistaken.

"Nice…" Naruto said mostly to himself as he pulled the sword out of the box and looked it over for a moment. Feeling the blade's handle for a brief moment, Naruto then frowned and flipped it in the air, only to catch it in his hand…

"Much like Alucard's weapon, your sword is made from Pure Macedonian Silver. It has a single-edged 50cm length blade, and both the hilt and blade have been balanced. It has also been sharpened down to the point it has the sharpest edge possible." Walter explained to the blond while Naruto whistled to himself, twisting the blade in hand for a moment, and easily turning it around in all directions like he would his Keyblades.

"Anything else, I should know Walter?" Naruto then asked the man while looking over the blade and Walter smirked in response.

"Yes, each of your throwing Knives are of course also blessed Macedonian silver with razor sharp edges, the blades are also perfectly balanced double-edged and 15cm long." Walter added while Naruto sheathed the Short-Sword into the holster on his back before picking out one of the throwing knives. Looking it over for a moment, the blond then tilted his head and tossed it into the air, catching it in hand and then nodding his head.

"I have to admit, this is indeed perfect Walter!" Naruto stated while taking the case and walking over to the side to put the knives into the cases around his body.

"Also, I believe there is an extra case in there, I would put it on your boot with the straps included, that will allow you a few extra knives to carry around should you ever run out of your main knives, think of them as back ups." Walter added with a smirk and Naruto nodded his head while pulling his old Throwing-Knives from their slots in his outfit and replacing them with the new throwing Knives.

"Bloody hell, you get new weapons too…" Seras said while looking at the weapons, while also making certain to keep her distance from them.

"Ms. Victoria I believe I have something _special_ for you as well." Walter called while turning to another case he'd left at the side of the room, Seras turning to him with a curious expression on her face. However it soon changed when Walter brought out an enormous weapon that was longer than he was tall… "The Harkonnen, the 30mm Anti-Freak cannon. Designed to be used with both depleted uranium shells and exploding incendiary shells. This weapon will destroy all but the most heavily armored of targets." Walter explained with a smirk on his face while Seras stared at the weapon in a mix of shock and horror…

"Wh-Wha-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" She demanded loudly while staring at the old man, Naruto snickering into his hand with a grin on his face. _'She really is too highly strung…'_ Naruto thought while finishing strapping the case onto his left boot and put a few of his Karasu-Knives into it…

(?)

Two men walk down a long a path towards a familiar gate ahead of them, the first man is a tall pale man, his hair is long and blond with a purple ribbon, and wears a white suit with glasses perched on his nose, a long white coat hanging on his shoulders. Beside of him is a dark skinned man with numerous facial piercing, golden yellow eyes and black hair, and a black outfit with white gloves and a strange hat, a golden eye symbol upon it. "So this dudes friend, I mean he's like a real doctor but he does the cosmetic shit on the side, right. So then that same crazy fuck with the horn comes back, but now he wants a Plexiglas plate for his skull!" The dark clothed man explains to the pale man with a grin across his face, the pale man rolling his eyes.

"And the doctor fucking does it! He makes a window; you can see the fucker's brain and shit! He's got a big monster horn and his head meat on display! The guy's a freak! I mean what the fuck?" The dark clothed man demanded with a laugh while walking beside of the pale man who sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Shut up." The pale man ordered and the dark clothed man looked to him with a raised brow. "This stream of drivel pours from your mouth before every job. Can we just this once try for focused, quiet, and cool?" The pale man pleaded while walking beside of his partner and he mocked him for a moment.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it, same ol' shit, I know. Fucking A bro!" The dark-skinned man replied and his pale "Bro" rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"Failure is not an option." The pale man reminded and the dark clothed man scoffed while looking to him.

"Oh please, I could pull this job in my god damn sleep." He replied with a grin as they continued to approach the building only for the white clothed man to frown as they approached the gate, two guards standing in front of it.

"Hey! What are you two doing here? These grounds are off limits." One of the guards stated and the white clothed man raised a brow.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, we're on a sight seeing tour of famous English estates." The pale man explained to the guard with a slight smirk across his lips, the dark clothed man grinning widely.

"Are you saying this mansion isn't open to the public?" He questioned with his head tilted slightly and the guard frowned deeply.

"This is private property! Please leave at once." The man ordered and the two men looked to one another.

"Yes sir." "Alright." The two said while looking to one another, both being clearly amused. Both men then turned slightly and the pale man raised his hand and snapped his fingers with a smirk. Almost instantly, a silenced shot moved out and tore through the guard's head, a spray of blood flying out the back of his head. Widening his eyes as his partner fell, the other man then looked passed the two men and saw a large pair of buses behind them. Instantly, dozens of guns suddenly came out of the windows of the buses, the two men either grinning or smirking towards the wide-eyed guard.

"Dudes looking kind of queasy…" The dark clothed man suddenly noted and his pale partner smirked darkly.

"He could use a nap." The pale man noted and the dark clothed man lazily raised one hand up.

"Right then, chow." The dark clothed man said while snapping his fingers as well, a hail of gunfire flying from the buses and pelting the guard, tearing him apart while the two men somehow remained unharmed. "Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" The dark clothed man shouted only for the shots to continue, frowning the man turned towards the bus with a scowl on his face. "I said hold your fucking fire!" He shouted at the bus and the shots soon ceased, blowing into his bangs, the dark man then turned to his partner with a deep frown. "Dude bro, these guys are complete fucking idiots! Are you sure about this shit?" The dark man questioned of the pale one and he sighed once more.

"Please. This is a test, an insignificant ordinary Test." The pale man reminded before a sly look crossed his features. "Don't forget, his plan is moving forward and we are but the smallest cogs in his great machine." The pale man reminded the dark clothed man and he snorted with a shake of his head.

"Fine, whatever." He replied with a grin before looking towards the Hellsing manor with a wide grin on his face. "Now, lets have a little fun!" The dark clothed man decided while snapping his fingers once more, the door of the buses being blown off its hinges when he does. Once the doors are out of the way, dozens of men in military garb start to walk out of the busses, all of them carrying a heavy shield with the words "Boo Doo People Murder People" over the front of them. The men walked forward, before suddenly stopping before the two men, and clicked their heels together, their eyes glowing an evil red…

"Listen up maggots! You know how the plan goes, you make the kill, you drink the spill!" The dark skinned man exclaimed while pulling out a pair of large guns and holding them up. "And if you run into Alucard or the Hellsing Bi-atch! Don't you quit until they are dead, dead, DEAD!" The man exclaimed as they then marched forward towards the Hellsing manor, the two men leading them forward…

(The Castle That Never Was…)

Zero and Angela walked around the Castle of the World That Never Was, the male soulless looking around with a frown. "Oi, this place is a fucking Maze Kara-Chan, do you even know where we're going?" Zero questioned while looking to the girl, idly looking down to follow her swaying hips and her…

"Honestly, I have no clue where we're going… and stop staring at my ass and concentrate for once, Love." Angela grumbled out flatly, Zero looking up with the equivalent of a blink for one of their kind.

"Huh? Oh, uh… right." Zero mumbled while rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous chuckle, Angela shaking her head. "Man… you know the weirdest thing is that I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something really important… but for the life of me I can't remember what it is!" The blond said to Angela only for her to suddenly stop dead in her tracks. Coming to a stop behind Angela, Zero looked at her and slowly walked around to come face to face with her. Waving a hand in front of her "Eyes" for a moment, Zero then tilted his head to one side while leaning forward.

"Yo, you okay Kara-Chan? You're kind of spacing out on me…" He questioned of his girlfriend and she shook her head then grabbed him by his collar.

"Shit, I just remembered something, where's, Jill?" She asked quickly and Zero "Blinked" mentally before widening his eyes and cursing loudly.

"Shit I knew it! I knew I was forgetting something important! Hell, she wasn't in the prison block in The Sanctuary, so I guess she either got completely turned into a Pure-Blood Soulless, or was somehow changed into a Heatless." Zero replied while feeling his hands start to twitch and Angela nodded her head in agreement.

"We need to find her, not only because I like having her around to keep you in line, but also because I hate to admit it… but I've kind of grown attached to her…" Angela told the Soulless-Infidel and he "Blinked" once more before nodding his head and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Right, first we find Jill, then we find the bastard soulless that did this to us, and turn them inside out, and then we bug the hell out of that kid that reminds you of me." Zero said with a nod of his head, Angela rolling her eyes before walking deeper into the castle, eyes closed as she felt an odd feeling coming from that direction. As they walked through the halls of The Castle That Never Was, Zero looked around for a moment before poking Angela's shoulder. "Where the hell are we going Kara-Chan?" Zero questioned of his girlfriend, the winged-Soulless sighing before crossing her arms over her chest.

"Not sure, but I'm being pulled towards something around here." She replied and Zero sighed before crossing his arms behind his neck, and then stopped suddenly. Walking for a few steps passed her boyfriend, Angela then turned to look at him strangely as he suddenly unlocked his wrist blades and blocked a scythe that nearly cut him in half. Grunting for a moment, the soulless then pushed back on the scythe, sending his assailant sliding back where he dug his scythe into the ground. Ripping it out of the ground, the assailant then took a stance across from them, Angela twirling her spear in hand while narrowing her eyes dangerously.

Their assailant was a Soulless; he had a black suit like them, his chest having a Cross Flory Fitchy like all other Soulless, a pair of Cross Moline on his upper legs, over the front of his mask is a bolted down "Cross Pommee", oddly enough a metal "Crown of Thorns" encircles his head, he also wears two belts around his waist, a skirt of Chain-mail attached to it, with a metal cross hanging from her belt, a red ribbon of some kind is wrapped over his arms down into his belt, spiked metal plates cover each of his knees, while simple metal pauldrons are over each of his shoulders, with metal plates along the sides of his left arm down to cover the back of her hand, a simple Cross on the back of his forearm, segmented metal rings are worn over his fingers, two white bands around his right bicep, and segmented metal armor over his lower legs with a cross bolted over them. (Black-Soulless: Traitor…)

"Man, why can't we go anywhere without being attacked by someone?" Zero wondered mostly to himself while reaching back to pull his two blades from his back while Angela lightly hit the Soulless on the head with her weapon. Turning to her with a look, Zero then watched as Angela walked towards the strange Soulless and then crossed her arms over her chest.

"So, why exactly did you attack us?" Angela questioned flatly while Zero slowly moved over to her side with his two blades out and at the ready. Looking from Zero to Angela for a moment, the Black-Soulless slowly took a step back, the massive scythe in his hands gripped tightly.

"I have been attacked by a great many other creatures of similar make, mostly white Soulless as of late… your friend looked to be one of them. I beg of you to please forgive me for my earlier attack." The man replied before twisting the scythe around and placed it onto his back, Angela humming for a moment before nudging Zero. Giving her a look as if asking what she wanted, Zero then tilted his head as she sighed.

"Put the swords away, Zero." She stated and Zero muttered something under his breath even as he did as his girlfriend asked. Shaking her head afterwards, Angela pulled Zero over to stand before the other Black-Soulless. "Do you have a name?" Angela questioned and the man nodded his head before standing at attention.

"My name is Dante Alighieri milady. Soldier for the good king and once a crusader." The man replied with a slight curt bow and Angela blinked while she and Zero looked to one another.

"Isn't that the name of that dude in that one book "The Devine Comedy" that you made me read?" The Soulless-Infidel questioned of Angela while leaning over to her, and she slowly nodded her head, just as surprised as he was.

"Excuse me, but what do you two mean by "The Devine Comedy"?" Dante questioned of the two and Zero reached back to rub the back of his head for a moment before then sighing lightly.

"It's a long story man, just trust me when I say you don't want to know." Zero replied in explanation and Dante slowly nodded his head, Angela sighing before palming her face for a moment.

"All right. Dante, why are you hiding in a place like this? And if you were really a Crusader, how come your not one of the Pure-Blood Soulless?" Angela questioned and the Soulless-Traitor clenched his fists before looking to a large window over to the side.

"Because… on my world, my beloved was taken into the Inferno… because of the horrible things that I did during the Crusades. I fought my way through the depths of The Inferno to save her… but, as a result, I can never let go of my darkness. I can never forget the evil things I have done. And as such, I cannot be a Pure Soulless… for they are no different than I once was." Dante replied and Zero and Angela looked to one another for a moment before Zero chuckled lightly.

"Not bad Dan, I once traveled into Hell to get Kara-Chan to save here. Accept it was her ol' man who put her there." Zero replied and Dante looked at the Infidel for a moment before placing a hand onto his shoulder.

"It is nice to know that there are still noble souls out there." The man stated and Zero scoffed while shaking his head.

"Man, you _really_ don't know me that well." Zero said with a light chuckle in his throat while Angela rubbed her face, briefly wishing she had a face so she could pinch the bridge of her nose…

"As interesting as all that is, Dante. I was wondering something." Angela noted aloud, drawing the man's attention to her as she walked behind him, Zero following her as he always did. "Do you think it would be too much trouble of me to ask you to help us, we're trying to find someone…" Angela questioned and Dante looked from her to Zero and nodded his head.

"It would be my honor to help you. Not only because you have forgiven me for my hasty actions, but also because I believe that if we work together, perhaps we can also find more Black-Soulless, and then we could all rise up against the Court of Order and their leader, Seraph." Dante replied while clinching a fist and Zero looked over to Angela with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Yeah yeah yeah, save the worlds from evil, yata yata… whatever. So long as we find Jill, I could give a damn about these worlds." Zero grumbled under his breath, Angela sighing before elbowing her boyfriend in the ribs. Grunting for a moment, the Soulless-Infidel rubbed his ribs and sighed tiredly. "Alright… jeez Kara-Chan I know you like helping people but this is a bit much… I mean, how in the hell am I always getting dragged into these kinds of fucking situations anyways?" Zero wondered in question as he walked with Dante and Angela, deeper into the castle…

Behind them, hiding in the shadows, a large figure with a strange crown shaped helmet looked towards their retreating forms. Walking out from behind a corner, the dark behemoth looked to the side as a pool of darkness opened up. Letting a low rumbling grunt echo out, the being then reached into the pool before yanking out a strange looking Heartless. This one had the basic shape of a Neo-Shadow, however it was smaller, it had long pointed ears, a row of dull spikes along its spine, small stubby spines over some of its face, sharp talons on both its hands and feet, and a snout on its face just over its pumpkin grin. (Pure-Blood Heartless: Minion…)

Grunting for a moment, the being tossed the shadowy creature to the side, only for it to quickly flip up to its feet and bow before him. _**"Whats you need master?"**_ The Minion questioned while its glowing yellow eyes looked up to the armored being and he silently pointed towards the retreating figures of Angela, Dante, and Zero. "Me follow?" The Minion questioned and the being silently nodded his head, the minion sticking out its tongue while saluting. _**"Okee dokee! For de master!"**_ He exclaimed happily before running after the trio, its master backing up into a Dark-Corridor as it did…

TBC…


	33. Berserkers

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 31**_: _**Berserkers**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(?)

Riku hopped out of his Gummi-Ship with a frown on his face, landing in a crouch on the ground before looking around. "C'mon Duck, we have work to do." Riku reminded while Donald muttered something under his breath as he pulled himself out of the ship only to crash to the ground. Sighing at this, Riku shook his head before looking around the world they were visiting in search of more of the pages to Xehanort's Reports. The world was one Sora had been too before, known as "Agrabah" and was a vast desert from what Riku was seeing.

"Couldn't you wait just a second!" Donald asked in his typical squawking voice and Riku briefly wished he could understand what the Duck was saying before letting out a tired sounding sigh.

"I'd really rather get this search over with and head back to Radiant Garden duck…" Riku reminded and Donald muttered his agreement with Riku even as he followed behind the silver haired youth.

"Don't gotta be so snippy bout it!" He stated and Riku rolled his eyes while crossing his arms over his chest.

"So where do you think we should start looking for those Reports?" Riku questioned of his current traveling companion only for Donald to shrug as his response. Frowning once more, Riku closed his eyes while walking towards the walls surrounding the city of Agrabah, but as he did, Donald suddenly came to a halt. Blinking for a moment, Riku the let out a sigh and turn around when he noticed the sound of Donald's footsteps had stopped. "Donald, I know we don't really get along but…" Riku started to say only to stop and widen his eyes upon seeing Donald hadn't just stopped, no, he looked almost like he was frozen, his body was stuck mid stride… as if frozen in time…

"What is this?" Riku demanded while forming his Keyblade and looking around, a black-coated figure briefly shimmering behind him. Feeling a presence, Riku turned around and ran in the direction the feeling was coming from, sliding to a halt when he saw a man in a black coat form and then dissipate as if made from fog. "Who are you and what did you do to Donald?" Riku demanded with a scowl across his face, only for the Mysterious Figure to solidify before him and tilt its head.

"_A Keyblade of Twilight?"_ A strange almost echo of a voice came out curiously while Riku put a hand to his head. He hadn't so much heard the voice, as much as he swore that it just put itself into his mind. _"How intriguing… I have seen the powers of Keyblades of Light… but for the sake of my research, I must see the power of this Keyblade of Twilight."_ The man's strange voice came out as he held a hand forward, only for a blue energy blade to form into his hand, a second one forming into the opposite hand, both having a hilt that appeared vaguely similar to the hands of a clock.

"What the…" Riku started to ask while The Mysterious Figure crouched down into a stance, one blade held vertically the other horizontally. "Who are you?" Riku questioned yet The Mysterious Figure remained silent before lunging forward. Cursing as he did, Riku blocked a strike from the Mysterious Figure's blades with his Keyblade and then kicked the man in black back. Landing in a crouch the Mysterious figure jumped into the air and seemed to put his weapons together before throwing one end down at Riku, piercing him with one end of the blade attached to the other by a long glowing "Rope" of some sort like a whip.

The Mysterious Figure then lifted the end of the weapon that pierced into Riku back into the air with the silver haired youth with it. Widening his eyes as he was lifted into the air, Riku then grunted as The Mysterious Figure started to rapidly slice and slash into him with his twin weapons before slamming them down into him and throwing him back to the ground. Landing as if via teleportation, the Mysterious Figure then formed both of his blades and slammed them together to form a double-sided sword. Lunging forward with wind blowing around him he slammed into Riku and sent the youth flying back only to flip in the air and grit his teeth as he slid to a stop.

Scowling darkly, Riku then held one of his hands at his sides while the Mysterious Figure flipped back a pace. "No more games!" Riku declared while throwing a hand forward and firing a blast of Dark-Firaga towards the Mysterious Figure. Tilting his head to one side only briefly, the Mysterious Figure then seemed to shimmer before vanishing completely, Riku's eyes widening as he then reappeared behind the youth and swung both of his blades. As he did, an X shaped beam of energy flowed from both of his blades and caught Riku in the back throwing him forward. Rolling forward, Riku pushed himself up with one arm and landed in a crouch while turning to face The Mysterious Figure once more.

However as he did, The Mysterious Figure seemed to split into five, all five of them lunging at Riku with blinding speed. Widening his eyes Riku didn't even get the chance to blink before the copies of Mysterious Figure began to slice and slash into him. Gritting his teeth as they gave him no chance to defend himself, Riku soon fell to his knees before twisting around into a spin slicing through the majority of the Mysterious Figure clones. The Mysterious Figure himself jumped into the air and quickly threw one of his blades down at Riku, the weapon lengthening into a spear before impaling the youth when he did.

Moving around quickly, the Mysterious figure formed more of his weapons before quickly throwing them down at Riku, each of them forming into a spear as he did. Snapping his fingers afterwards, the spears exploded knocking Riku back, the silver haired youth flipping back to his feet and stumbling for a moment as the Mysterious Figure landed calmly, hands empty as he stared at the youth. _"Your right… play time is over… now come forth warrior… and show me your true strength…"_ The Mysterious Figure suddenly agreed while forming its twin weapons back into its hands as Riku pushed himself up to his feet and then glared at him angrily…

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

Axel, Larxene, Xion, Tira, and Alice were running towards the main manor of the Hellsing Complex, a deep scowl on Tira's face. "Please miss Tira, what is it that has you so out of sorts? And what was all those noises before?" Alice questioned of the psychotic girl only for her to grin insanely and twist around her Ring-Blade around her body. Behind the two were the former Organization members; all of them completely clueless as to what is going on, as they'd never heard an actual gun shot before.

"The sounds were a bunch of gunshots, and gunshots typically mean trouble, and trouble means that its time to play!" Tira announced while flipping forward when she saw a large force with shields marching their way into the Hellsing Manor. Grinning insanely, the girl then jumped into a flip and lunged at the Ghouls, slicing the heads off of several of them almost instantly.

"Holy shit!" Axel shouted while Larxene looked impressed by the feet as Tira then twisted around while crouched low, slicing the legs out from under several more ghouls with a psychotic grin. As she stood up among the bodies, then insane purple eyed girl then heard a wolf-whistle and turned to her side, where she saw the two men from before standing in front of the Hellsing Manor.

"Holy fuck babe, now those are some impressive moves ya got there." The dark clothed man stated while taking an appreciative glance at the girl, inwardly deciding that the psychotic look somehow suited her.

"Indeed it was a most impressive display, however I fear she is underestimating our forces a bit much if she thinks she can get so close to them without consequences." The pale man noted from beside of his "Bro" with a smirk on his face as the Ghouls which Tira had decapitated suddenly lunged at her. Cursing loudly, Tira flipped high into the air and then grabbed her Ring-Blade with both hands while pushing on it with one foot. Grinning insanely she then flung the weapon with surprising speed, splitting several of the Ghouls in half before it flew back into awaiting arms as she came into a landing.

"Whoa bro, I think this one is a lot tougher than the average fucking human…" The Dark-Skinned man noted with a grin towards the psychotic girl and his pale brother frowned deeply, their plan hadn't included anyone with enough skill to do that besides Alucard…

"Indeed, and as such it would be rude of us not to give her a good time… wouldn't you agree Jan?" The pale man questioned with a smirk across his face and the dark-skinned man laughed loudly before grinning insanely.

"Oh fuck yeah bro! It aint nice to be rude to the ladies! Okay psycho biatch! You wanna play, then how about you play with my boys for a while!" Jan shouted while snapping his fingers a single group of the army of Ghouls coming to a complete stop. "Alright you ass hole undead mother fuckers! I got a job for you, entertain the lady and her friends for us would ya!" Jan ordered as a dozen of the armor wearing Ghouls marched towards Tira and the others.

"C'mon Jan, we still have work to do ourselves." The Pale man suddenly reminded and the dark skinned man grinned while turning around, a pair of large guns in either hand.

"Right bro, lets go put the little hellsing bitch in her place!" The man replied as he and the majority of Ghouls marched into the Hellsing Manor, just as those left to attack Tira and the others opened fire, Xion quickly erecting a Barrier to defend herself and the others while Tira dodged out of the way before lunging at the Ghouls. However these were clearly somewhat smarter than normal as they locked their shields together and pushed Tira back. Blinking as she rolled back into a crouch, an insane grin then twisted over Tira's lips as she looked at the Ghouls.

"Oh goody! Now this looks like it's going to be more fun than ever! Smart zombies make things so much more interesting!" Tira decided while the Ghouls Behind the front batch moved to open fire on Tira, the girl rolling out of the way and frowning as they moved their shields to cover them. Meanwhile, Xion dropped the barrier and then lunged forward, forming her Keyblade and then throwing an arm forward, firing a blast of Dark-Fire towards the group of Ghouls. The attack hit the shields of the Ghouls and blew them all back, giving Tira a grin as she lunged into the fray, only to flip to the side as the Ghouls continued to fire on her.

"Oh screw this, time to party!" Axel declared while throwing his arms to either side and forming his twin Chakra, flames roaring to life around him and Alice yelping and ducking behind Larxene as he does. Rolling her eyes for a moment, Larxene then formed her throwing knives in hand and her face twisted into a sinister grin.

"These things are so dumb it feels like its hardly even worth the effort… but I'll manage." Larxene decided while moving with unreal speed, splitting into four and lunging at the many Ghouls. Swinging at them from behind the many Larxene's managed to split them apart where Axel threw his Chakrams into the air before jumping up and catching them.

"Alright! Burn baby!" Axel cried out loudly, flames roaring to life on the ground and spreading out everywhere before forming a ring around the combatants and Ghouls. Snickering to herself quietly, Larxene then landed on the ground and she and her clones spread out around the ring of fire. Throwing their arms forward their concentrated a blast of lightning before firing them into the ring, catching the Ghouls with the concentrated burst of lightning, however they blocked with their shields, causing them to melt yet leaving the Ghouls relatively unscathed.

"Hey what the fuck gives!" Larxene demanded while Tira came from behind and started to decapitate the Ghouls, only for them to still move.

"I'm more interested in why they can still move without their heads…" Axel noted aloud and Xion nodded her head with wide eyes, Tira frowning as she landed next to the red haired man, blond woman, and black haired girl.

"I don't like this, these Ghouls aren't like the others, taking out the head or heart doesn't do much damage." Tira said in an uncharacteristically calm and serious voice before scrunching up her nose with an annoyed frown. "Why won't you all just shut up and die!" She demanded furiously while hunching down, her "Gloomy" personality having clearly taken over as she lunged towards the Ghouls with a snarl…

Elsewhere, Naruto blinked owlishly at the sound of gunfire coming from upstairs, then turned and slapped his face upon seeing Alucard had vanished. "Why did big-red have to take off now?" He wondered mostly of himself while Seras looked to Walter with a clearly worried expression on her face.

"Walter, would there happen to be some kind of training drill today?" Seras questioned and the old man took a thoughtful look for a moment before shaking his head with a deep frown.

"No, there are no training drills scheduled, and besides that the training hall is soundproofed." Walter replied while walking over to a phone and picking it up, Seras looking to him worriedly. Behind them, Naruto frowned before turning on his heel and walking over to a vent, concentrating for a moment, the blond haired Seeker of Darkness suddenly shifted into mist and passed into the vent unseen and unheard.

"Yes, Ferguson. I see… an army of ghouls… hmm… problematic. Have you contacted Sir-Integra yet?" Walter questioned with his arms crossed, Seras looking at him and never noticing the lack of a certain blond haired seeker. "All the guards… in the halls? Hmm… have they taken the upper floor yet? Not yet, good, then I shall contact Sir-Integra myself, good day and good luck." The old Hellsing Retainer commented with an almost disturbing amount of calm, surprising Seras greatly.

"How did an army of Ghouls manage to break into the mansion?" The blond headed Vampiress questioned of Walter and the man gave her a clearly amused look in response, causing her to mentally groan.

"I would assume that they used the door." He replied and Seras gaped towards him before palming her face and letting out a slight sigh. "In any case I shall contact Sir-Integra post-haste, we need to insure her safety above all else." Walter then decided while Seras nodded her head in agreement and then had an idea.

"Oh! Naruto why don't you…" She started to say while turning around, then gaped upon seeing that the blond had left them alone. "Bloody hell, when did he leave?" Seras demanded and Walter looked at her for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders dismissively.

"He is a Ninja Miss Victoria, you must've realized that he'd start doing this at some point or another…" Walter reminded the blond haired Draculina and Seras looked at him for a long moment and then sighed. Truth be told, while she did know that he was a Ninja, she never gave him up and vanishing like one any thought considering how loud he often was. _'Now I'm going to have to keep my eye on him or he'll keep surprising me like Master… and really, why is everyone in this bloody organization so… so… urgh I can't even name it!'_ The blond haired Draculina then decided while looking to Walter as he tried to get in touch with Sir-Integra.

Meanwhile, in the halls of the Hellsing Manor, Jan Valentine is grinning like a maniac as he walks into a four-way intersection. "Up Up!" He suddenly cries out while pointing his twin machine guns up a hall, firing a spray of bullets at several Hellsing Soldiers. "Down Down!" He added while turning around to unleash another spray of fire, grinning insanely as he does. "Left Right! Left Right!" He finished while spreading his arms and firing down both the remaining halls, taking down several guards as he did. "Bringing the Motherfucking death by Konami!" Jan then exclaimed with a wide psychotic grin on his face before suddenly bursting out in uproarious laughter.

"Oh, I am so fucking hard right now! We're smarter than you bitches, and you can't stop us!" Jan exclaimed loudly while Naruto watched from a vent, before rolling his eyes for a moment and then moving on. While Jan was clearly a threat, an annoying one, he felt Soulless were nearby, and those took priority over the psychotic Vampire. Though when he saw the man in white behind Jan sighing and adjusting his glassed he couldn't help but smirk as he then walked down a corridor which would lead him to "Big-Red".

'_I almost feel sorry for that piece of shit Vampire… almost._' The blond haired youth thought to himself while watching as the white clothed Vampire walked down the long corridor and out of view. Crawling through the vents for only a short way, Naruto then formed into mist once more and began to practically flow through them. Coming out of a vent closest to the Soulless, Naruto reformed his body and then brushed his arms off with a smirk on his face.

"Shape-Shifting is such a useful ability, its no wonder Youkai in legends like to use it so often." Naruto decided while brushing his arms off and then walked forward, frowning as he saw a beam of light shoot into the air from nearby. Looking around, Naruto was only slightly surprised to find himself in one of the barracks outside, meaning that the Helsing manor was connected to them for one reason or another, possibly on the off chance of an invasion, thus allowing easy access for troops to enter the mansion.

However, at the moment getting into the mansion wasn't the problem, what was was that the Ghouls just wouldn't die. _'That Jan guy clearly didn't create these freaks, which means that someone else is pulling his strings…'_ Naruto inwardly decided to himself before blinking when he saw a package lying on the ground nearby. "Again?" The blond wondered while kneeling down and picking up the box, looking it over for a moment, Naruto then opened it and pulled out another sheet of Paper with what looked like some kind of report on it…

(Xehanort's Report 3…)

_In ancient times, no such buffers kept the larger World divided; there were no walls of light enclosing each smaller world the way they do today. Nothing prevented one from physically interfering with the next._

_At that time, the World was filled with light, and a great many Keyblade wielders. But without buffers, the worlds began to squabble over ownership of the light. You see, they learned of the Keyblade's true use. War broke out as each of the Keyblade wielders struggled to lay claim to an almighty entity known as Kingdom Hearts._

_Kingdom Hearts could be described as an aggregate of hearts. Worlds, too, have hearts, just like people; each world's heart is concealed from sight, beyond a hidden door. By gathering all the hearts of all the worlds in a single place, one may complete Kingdom Hearts. _

(End…)

Frowning as he looked over the Report, Naruto clicked his tongue while crossing his arms with a frown. "Master Xehanort, what were you looking for?" He whispered to himself and then began to drum his fingers along his right bicep with a deep frown. However, upon seeing something else inside of the box, Naruto stuck the report into his coat and pulled out a pair of straps connected to a silver buckle. The buckle was silver and in the shape of a heart that vaguely resembled a Heartless crest, the straps it was attached too were pure black in contrast to the silver of the buckle. Looking over the buckle and straps for a moment, the blond haired youth then removed his coat.

Pulling the straps on over his shoulders and then under his arms, Naruto then affixed it over his chest by locking the heart shaped buckle in place. Finished with locking the buckle in place with the straps forming an X over his torso, Naruto stopped for a moment as he began to tap the silver piece with a frown. "Somehow, I feel like I've seen you before…" He mumbled before shrugging his shoulders and pulling his Black Coat on overtop it, cracking his neck a second later and marching forward. Hearing gunfire, Naruto reached back and pulled his Keyblades free before coming to a door and kicking it off of its hinges.

Entering into a barracks, Naruto widened his eyes as he saw the Soulless, The Third Tier one from Integra's pictures, brandishing an enormous Scythe while holding up a man by his neck. "Reach Purity through my guiding light!" The Soulless exclaimed and Naruto watched the man scream even as light flowed over his form, soon enough leaving a pure white creature with pitch black eyes.

"You know, I didn't think most Soulless could do that, from what I've seen, only a Heartless can…" Naruto noted while looking towards the Third Tier, the female Soulless dropping the Pure-Soulless to the ground unceremoniously before turning around to face the young Seeker of Darkness.

"Normal Soulless can't, I'm a rare exception to the rule…" The female responded simply while Naruto twirled his Keyblades at his sides. "It is for that reason that I was allowed to join The Court of Order." The Soulless explained causing Naruto to raise a brow while twirling one of his Keyblades.

"Court of Order?" Naruto questioned, hoping to get at least a little information on his enemies from the strange Soulless.

"Indeed. The most powerful of all Soulless are The Court of Order. We serve under the leadership and Guidance of The Great Seraph! He is the one who changed us from simple souls into the forms you are so accustomed too." Nephilim explained once more and Naruto clicked his tongue while his Spellbinder of Knowledge went to work. Seraph apparently meant a High Angel, one of great power and prestige, which made a lot of sense given how the Soulless looked like Angels.

"And you are?" Naruto questioned and the Soulless twirled her scythe in hand before bringing the pommel of the weapon down on the ground, flames sparking from the point of impact.

"I am Nephilim, a lower member of The Court, tasked with the utter destruction of the Seekers of Darkness and the other Dark beings who would defy us." Nephilim responded and Naruto raised a brow at the name, since according to his Spellbinder of Knowledge it seemed that a Nephilim was actually a "Half-Angel / Giant", so he had to wonder why they stuck her with such a name, seeing as she was of only average height and moderate build, and was clearly a full Soulless.

"Quite an odd Name…" Naruto noted simply and the Soulless didn't seem to care as she twirled her weapon and grasped it with both hands.

"Enough talk. I have been charged with your destruction, Seeker, and since you have seen fit to destroy all of the troops I have sent after you, I am left with no choice but to do away with you myself!" Nephilim exclaimed and Naruto tilted his head for a moment, and then watched as Nephilim brought a hand up and clenched her fist. "Encircle!" She declared loudly, dozens of Pure-Soulless spilling out of the walls and forming around her, bodies swaying from side to side.

"Oi, you going to have those things fight me?" Naruto asked incredulously, given that they were only the most basic form of the Soulless he normally fought, and thus a much lesser threat than they would be with their "Armor" he supposed.

"Indeed. Perhaps they are not as powerful as true Soulless would be, but these will be adequate for my needs. And I can create more whenever I see fit, so Inquisitor won't get on my case…" The Soulless replied before pointing a single finger towards the blond haired Seeker of Darkness. "Get 'em boys!" She ordered and with surprising speed the Pure-Soulless lunged forward, straight for Naruto. Frowning as they approached, Naruto tightened his grip on One-Winged-Angel and Soul-Blade before lunging forward and swinging both blades. Cutting through the Pure-Soulless with ease, Naruto came at Nephilim only for her to swing her Scythe up and block both of his Keyblades.

"Your stronger than you look…" Naruto noted aloud and Nephilim remained silent, merely kicking him in the sternum and turning her scythe around in her hands.

"Burn!" She declared while holding a hand out and a ball of fire flew towards the blond haired Seeker. Smirking despite himself, Naruto changed, forming into a wall of mist and allowing the flames to pass through him harmlessly. Reforming a second later, Naruto watched Nephilim clench her fists on the shaft of her scythe. "I see… so the Inquisitor was also correct when he said that you'll only get more powerful the longer you survive." Nephilim muttered while Naruto twirled his Keyblades in hand, Soul-Blade held in a reverse grip while One-Winged-Angel was held in a standard grip.

"Oi, that's really just so fascinating, but I think I'll go back to kicking your ass now." Naruto decided with a smirk, then crouched back and lunged forward, Nephilim lifting her Scythe to block an attack. However as he approached, Naruto opened a Dark Corridor in front of him, vanishing into it as he did. Looking around in surprise, Nephilim then cried out as Naruto came out of another Corridor behind her, kicking her to the ground and then flipping back in a lazy stance. "Tch, this is getting really pathetic, I mean c'mon, you're a High-Class Soulless and yet your this weak?" Naruto commented and Nephilim growled low in her throat before snapping her fingers.

Almost instantly, Pure-Soulless popped into existence all around the room, Naruto blinking his eyes owlishly as he noticed them all. _'Shit, she must've turned at least half of the Helsing Army to get this many…'_ Naruto thought to himself while cursing as the Pure Soulless came lunging at him, swinging their arms wildly. Ducking under a clumsy punch from one of them Naruto twisted into a flip, landing on both feet the blond then held out both blades and spun in place, slicing clean through several of the Pure-Soulless while Nephilim growled.

"Being of Darkness, I won't fail my mission!" Nephilim declared as she reached up and removed her Halo, then threw it at the blond haired Seeker. Seeing it coming out of the corner of his eye, Naruto flipped over the Halo, only to watch it turn around and fly right back into Nephilim's hand. Landing behind a Pure-Soulless, Naruto quickly dispatched it while Nephilim held her hands close to each other, forming a mass of lightning between her hands. Grinning despite himself, Naruto let out a light chuckle as he then twirled his blades and narrowed his eyes.

"Alright, now that's what I'm talking about!" The blond declared while Nephilim shot the ball of energy towards Naruto, the youth reaching down and lifting a shield of Darkness to protect himself. Seeing several Pure-Soulless coming at him from the sides, Naruto then formed Dark-Fire on both arms before unleashing both waves, annihilating more than half of them. "This parties getting crazy! Lets rock!" Naruto declared even as he lunged at Nephilim once more, swinging his Keyblades at her wildly, the Court Member growling as she dodged the strikes then lashed out with her Scythe…

"What the hell is going on!" One of the men in the Round-Table conference room demands while slamming his hand on the table and looking to Integra. The woman in question frowns only slightly before reaching up a hand to adjust her glasses a moment later.

"They're closing in, and fast." She replied and heard the men around her gasp in a mix of fear, few of them not doing so and reminding the woman how far the Round-Table had fallen over the years. These men had been fierce in their youth, but time, old age, and the changing world had turned the majority of them into spineless cowards… "They've taken the first two floors, as well as the roof. Escape is impossible." Sir-Integra explained with an air of finality in her tone while the man who spoke up before raised a hand while looking to her fearfully.

"Just do something! Your responsible for this!" The man exclaimed only for an older man opposite Integra to frown deeply.

"Sir-Penwood!" He stated and the said man looked over to him for a moment and saw he was completely composed. "This is neither the time nor the place for such behavior. I believe what Sir-Integra is trying to say is that we must all be expected to fend for ourselves when the time comes." The man stated simply while turning a cigar around in his hands and a faint smile crossed Integra's lips. _'At least some of them haven't lost themselves…'_ She mused to herself before watching as the bespectacled man looked to her. "Is that correct?" he questioned and Integra lightly nodded her head.

"Yes, sir." She replied and Sir-Penwood looked from the man back to Integra with worry on his face.

"And their ghouls aren't they?" He asked no one while sitting down and gripping the sides of his head. "And they're armed to the teeth." He added while slumping in his seat, still gripping his head, as he seemed to have a nervous break down. "And we're all… we're all going to die!" He said while dust fell from a place near the ceiling above the man, both Integra and the older bespectacled man from before looking up. As they did a section fell down and slammed into the top of Sir-Penwood's head causing him to yelp before looking up.

"It's a… it's a bottom?" He questioned upon seeing a girls blue skirted ass wiggling in the hold before she fell out. Soon enough Seras landed ass first on the man's face, causing both of them to fall back while Walter came down, landed on one hand and then flipped to his feet in one smooth motion.

"Are you alright miss Victoria?" Walter questioned while looking over to the young Draculina, inwardly guessing yes as she was merely rubbing the back of her head while sitting on Sir-Penwood's head…

"Seras! Walter!" Sir-Integra said, grateful to see the two while Sir-Penwood grumbled and tried to tell the busty young Draculina to get off his head.

"I do apologize for the delay." Walter stated as he walked over to the platinum blond, Seras merely grinning in some slight pain.

"Hi…!" Seras suddenly offered while rubbing the side of her head, a pair of thick brown gloves covering her hands rather than the usual Kid Gloves. Lighting a lighter and holding it out to Sir-Integra as she held a cigar to her lips, Walter then took an all business tone of voice.

"The manors defenses have been roundly decimated." Walter started to say while taking the lighter away as Sir-Integra took a few puffs of her cigar. "I don't know who armed and trained these creatures, but whoever did is a tactical Genius. They knew exactly how and where to hit us." Walter finished while looking to Sir-Integra with a slight smirk across his lips as the woman looked up to him.

"Walter, honestly, do you think we're done for?" Sir-Integra questioned of the much older man and Walter merely held up two fingers.

"No… of course not." He stated with finality and then hardened his eyes while looking down to the woman. "Compared to the sorts Van-Helsing faced a century ago, I think its safe to say this hardly rates as a crisis." Walter stated while flexing the fingers of his left hand, the digits giving an audible crack as he did so. "The plan is as follows Sir-Integra, Alucard will intercept our attackers in the Sub-Level, Seras and I will clear this floor." Walter explained and Sir-Integra raised a brow when she realized the man was leaving out a few extra hands.

"What of Agent Umbra and his little group? Have they been murdered as well?" She questioned with a no nonsense tone and Walter merely smirked in response.

"It seems his group have encountered the Ghouls on the lawn and are dealing with them presently, with brutal yet effective efficiency on behalf of Agent Umbra's own servant I might add. Now as for Agent Umbra himself… I believe one of his own targets has appeared. Or at least, that is the only reason I can imagine he would vanish like he did." Walter explained and Sir-Integra nodded her head slowly as the man then pulled a pair of black gloves over his white Kid-Gloves. "Your standing orders will be followed to the letter. I promise not one of these villains will ever see the light of day again." Walter told the woman ominously as strings of light seemed to form from his fingers and link to one another.

"Now with your permission sir, I believe its time I gave these young people a proper lesson in violence." Walter stated with a sinister ring to his voice, Sir-Integra smirking as she knew just what the old Butler meant. Seras however looked slightly in awe and more than a little confused as she looked between the two…

(?)

Vanitus sat upon a tree within Twilight Town's forest, his right arm lying across his waist. Opening his yellow eyes after a moment, a strange smirk crossed the dark haired youth's lips as blue / black energy seemed to flow from the shadows and then into his body. _'They can destroy as many of the Unversed as they like, but their Sentiments will always return to me…'_ The white-Seeker thought to himself before yawning tiredly and rolling from his spot on the tree to the ground below. Landing on all fours, the dark warrior then rose to his feet and rolled his right arm around for a moment. Chuckling in his throat, the white Seeker made his way through the forest outside of Twilight town with a yawn.

"Tch, this place might be bigger than Destiny-Islands, but it's just as boring…" The dark haired warrior mused aloud while crossing his arms over his chest, not seeing several shadowed figures watching him from the upper canvas formed by the rising branches of the trees. However as the Warrior of Darkness marched towards the Mansion he suddenly stopped when a strange almost haunting music began to echo in his ears.

"_We are… we are… we all are… we are… we are… we all are…"_ The words echoed out over and over, Vanitas turning all around in search of its source.

"What the…?" He wondered to himself while looking around, only to suddenly grit his teeth and grasp his head in pain, watching on as the world around him began to twist and turn. Soon enough, Vanitas had to brace himself as the land seemed to break apart, a vortex of dark colors completely consuming his vision. Opening his eyes soon after, the dark haired youth widened his eyes in shock at finding himself within a world of Darkness. The world around him seemed to be made up of dozens of patches of barren land, stretching out into infinity.

"What the hell is this place?" Vanitas demanded while turning all around, only to blink as several patches of land suddenly floated over and made a path. "Guess I know where to go at least." Vanitas mused before slowly walking over and placing a foot onto the land, testing how solid it was, then walked across it. Making his way along the patches of land, Vanitas turned back for only a moment and saw several platforms move around to continue the path forward. _'Something is seriously not right with this place.'_ The White-Seeker thought to himself even as he continued on the path before him. Soon enough, he saw a large tower, lightning and storm clouds hanging over it ominously.

"Of course there had to be a stereotypical evil tower…" The Unversed Source thought to himself with a roll of his eyes, before walking ever closer to the structure. Soon enough, the patches of land moved forward, leading him to a forest, or at least what had once been a forest. Each tree was withered and black, their twisted and gnarled limbs reaching high into the air. Looking at the feet of the trees, Vanitas saw that the soil of this strange place was dry and barren, clearly unable to sustain any type of life. As he looked around, Vanitas suddenly heard something, and quickly turned around, only to raise a brow as he saw something crawl out of the shadows.

"_Acolytes and Guardians Reign… within this our Realm of Pain…"_ An eerily familiar voice seemed to echo from all around the black haired youth as the creature crawled towards him, several more crawling from the shadows around it. Each one was identical to one another, black leather bands completely encompassing their bodies like some kind of mummy, the heavy obsidian manacles with dangling chains around their wrists and ankles, a thick black choker collar with a noticeable buckle on the front of their throats, metal claws seemingly grafted onto their hands and feet, a metal set of jaws fitted over their normal ones, and a pair of long braided together straps of leather falling from the back of their heads.

"What the hell…?" Vanitas demanded as the strange "Acolyte" twisted its head around, before literally turning its head upside-down in order to look at him. "Okay… not a Somebody at least." Vanitas noted while the strange creature twisted its head back into place and then crawled towards him on all fours. Frowning beneath his helm, Vanitas pulled Void-Gear out of the shadows and held the weapon towards the Acolyte. "Listen freak, come any closer and I'll turn you into less than a Nobody." Vanitas warned dangerously yet the strange creature showed absolutely no fear, causing the dark haired Unversed to narrow his eyes.

However when he tried to feel something from the creature, his own eyes widened upon feeling… nothing… Not like a Nobodies version of nothing, this thing was literally composed of absolutely nothing! It existed, yet for the life of him he couldn't tell why it was even there! So wrapped up in these thoughts was Vanitas, that he didn't notice it reach out for Void-Gear until it had grasped hold of its teeth. Instantly Vanitas felt a chilling cold from the creature crawl through his body. Knocking it away he then slid back, and watched as the Acolyte as it then pushed itself up and stood on shaky legs before swaying in the same strange way that a Nobody would…

Frowning deeply Vanitas then blinked, as the Acolyte then twisted into a spinning lunge at the black haired seeker. Cursing lightly, Vanitas swung his keyblade, batting the creature to the side only to widen his eyes as it flipped up and twisted into a low crouch. Still, Vanitas twitched, as he could feel no hate, no rage, no nothing from this estranged creature, like it just existed and nothing more. _'But how is that possible? Sentiments are made of the mind. Heartless are manifested Hearts. Soulless from manifested souls. Nobodies are formed out of the Mind Body and Soul without the heart… and Somebodies everything. How can something exist without existing?'_ Vanitas wondered to himself before feeling a dark yet still empty presence start to form…

"What the hell is going on around here? Who are you and what do you want from me?" Vanitas demanded furiously, pissed off more because he couldn't figure out what was going on than anything else. Instantly a casket rose from the ground, only to snap shut around the strange Acolyte then sink back down into the ground, Vanitas grimacing as it did. Seconds later, a shadowy arm rose out of the ground and the black haired seeker frowned deeply. Gripping Void-Gear in his hand tightly, Vanitas then watched on silently as a mass of mist / smoke started to swirl in place before forming a familiar creature… the same being clad in black leather straps and a metallic mandible that Ventus had met so many years earlier…

"You?" Vanitas questioned and the being silently nodded its head before lifting its head and throwing its arms to the sides.

"_We are the Guardians of Pain!"_ The being sang out, his whispery / echoing voice merely making the song all the more ominous as he then lowered his arms, wisps of smoke flowing from the gaps between the many leather bandages / wrappings that he wore. _"Welcome, Vanitas, now you face me. I am Guardian 25 of 26, The Pain of Abuse…"_ The creature declared while more smoke flowed out of its body and into the air. _"But my master, he calls me, Wrath!"_ The Guardian added while clenching his fist and Vanitas frowned for only a moment.

"And just who is your so called "Master" supposed to be then, Wrath?" Vanitas questioned of Wrath and the strange being merely tilted his head to one side before twitching erratically for a very brief moment.

"_That… is not of your concern for the moment, for the moment you should live only in the here and now Vanitas, for should you lose sight of it and fall to me… you will die."_ Wrath stated simply while smoke flowed off of his body and began to fill the entire room. Smirking slightly, Vanitas narrowed his eyes, the black glass of his helmet forming over his face as a mask, the Unversed Emblem forming overtop it. As it did, it also kept the smoke from entering into Vanitas lungs, keeping him from choking while Wrath backed up into the smoke, hiding himself completely from view.

"That's just fine by me, I was getting sick of the losers of light pulling their punches. I need a real challenge, and a battle to the death suits me just fine!" Vanitas declared while lunging into the smoke to find Wrath…

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

Deep beneath the manor, in a dark room hidden from the rest of the world, the white clad Valentine brother quickly kicks down a large doorway and enters with a smirk. The massive room is completely incased in shadows, a thick fog rolling along the floor and giving the already eerie room an ominous atmosphere. "I know you're in here. Even when you're hiding I can feel your presence." The man said with a slight laugh as he walked inside, his hands in his pockets and a cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Why on earth would I hide?" The dark voice of Alucard queried as the man in white felt his eyes widen when he saw Alucard casually sitting on a throne, a small table with a bottle of wine, a glass filled with the crimson liquid, and an empty glass at his side. "Don't mistake my patience for cowardice. Honestly, I was starting to get a bit bored waiting for you." Alucard stated simply, his hands folded together and a slight frown upon his lips.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Alucard." The white clothed man stated with a slight bow at the waist and a slight smirk graced the red clothed Vampire's features. "My name is Luke Valentine. I'm a really big fan of your work." Luke explained while looking to the man and Alucard merely raised a brow as his response…

Xion, Axel, Tira, Alice, and Larxene found themselves fighting against a horde of Ghouls. And while it was clear to them all that Tira was at least partially enjoying the wanton destruction and murder, it was also clear that the rest of them were not enjoying how much it took to actually get the Ghouls to stay down. For instance, it had taken Tira cutting off their heads, Larxene electrocuting them, Alice hitting them with her cards, and Xion and Axel BOTH attacking them with fire to finally get them to stay down, and that was only because they were little more than ash afterwards.

"Dammit!" Axel shouted as he slid back from a Ghoul as it tried to take a bite out of him, then fired a fire-ball point blank into its chest, sending it flying back while the rest marched forward behind heavy steel shields.

"Would you stop complaining, at least we haven't been bitten or separated from the others." Larxene reminded even as she formed several clones, all three of them spinning around the Ghouls and unleashing a blast of Lightning into them all. Strangely however they still arched forward, steaming and burnt to some extent while Alice and Tira continued their own wanton killing spree.

"Ya know, your soo much fun when you're not behaving like a good little girl!" Tira declared with a grin as she flipped over a Ghoul and sliced it down its center, then sliced through its heart to finally kill it. Rolling her eyes, Alice sighed while activating her Dead-Time Watch and instantly everything around her froze in time. Sifting through her "Toys" for a moment Alice then picked out her Jax-o-Death and dropped the ball, the Jax themselves lunging into the Ghouls before repeatedly piercing through them in every which direction they could.

Soon enough Alice reached out to catch the Jax just as time started up once more, which caused numerous Ghouls to fall over dead while the Shadowed Princess let out a slight sigh. "Honestly, I do wish these ghouls would simply stay dead, them getting up and walking around is just soo… annoying." Alice noted aloud, Tira nodding her head in complete agreement with the dark auburn haired girl on that particular matter. Meanwhile as she fought through the Ghouls, Xion felt a strange presence in the back of her head.

"_**Why do you continue to rely so strictly to your old fighting prowess?"**_ The calm, deep voice questioned, causing Xion to look around for a moment before it suddenly came to her once more. _**"Look not for me child, for you will never find me."**_ The voice stated and Xion wondered about her sanity for a moment before feeling time start to slow down around her. _**"Now, why don't you unleash your new powers against these foes and make them fear, The Seekers of Darkness?"**_ The voice questioned once more and Xion blinked yet again while looking to the numerous Ghouls before her.

'_I… I don't know how.'_ She replied inwardly, as while she had "Learned" inside of the Awakening, the Awakening and the Living World were too different places.

"_**Surely you jest, the power is simple as your master told you… feel need and the Darkness shall come to your aid. Should you need a shield it will form, should you desire armor it will come, should you need a sword the Darkness will cut down all your foes! Now call upon it young Seeker, and March forward!"**_ The strange voice explained to her before vanishing and, though she couldn't see it, Xion's eyes suddenly turned a familiar amber gold color as she flipped her Keyblade into a backhanded grip. Dark wisps then began to flow off of her arms and rise up into the air while a smirk slid across the girl's lips a moment later.

"No more games…" She decided while swinging her Keyblade, an arch of Dark energy flowing from her blade and cutting straight through, not only the Ghouls Shields, but the Ghouls as well. Throwing her key into the air just as the Ghouls fell forward, Xion then crossed her arms as Shadows wrapped around her body as she began to float over the ground, soon forming a familiar violet Dark-Armor over her body as she reached out and caught her Keyblade and flipped it back into a reverse grip. Hovering over the ground, Xion then allowed herself to fall back to the ground, stomping on it hard and causing numerous spikes of Darkness to rise out of the ground, piercing all of the Ghouls simultaneously.

Even as this happened still more Ghouls appeared and Xion scoffed while rising into the air. Swinging her Keyblade she formed a ball of Darkness at its tip and then held it into the air. Instantly, numerous smaller spheres of Darkness began to fly from it, flying down and ramming into and then through the numerous Ghouls. Watching as Ghoul after Ghoul fell before her, Xion scoffed and then reared back her body before seeming to kick forward, flying through the many Ghouls and swinging her Keyblade rapidly, slicing her way through them with a disturbing amount of ease. Soon finished, Xion lowered herself back to the ground and looked at her own handiwork with a strange sense of fascination.

"Xion?" Axel questioned from behind her and the girl turned to face him, the black glass of her helmet hiding her face from view completely. "You okay?" Axel questioned worriedly and Xion slowly nodded her head even as she turned back to looking at the fallen Ghouls. However, she then looked up as even more Ghouls marched forward, her lips curling in distaste as Shadows flowed along her form once more…

Meanwhile, on the third floor, Jan Valentine walked down a corridor with a mass of Ghouls following behind him, one of Sir-Integra's cigars hanging from his lips. "Little Hellsing Chicky, we're coming to find you!" He declared in a slight singsong tone as he walked forward with a grin on his face. "C'mon out and play little Hellsing, I promise its gonna be a lot of fun! We just want to torture you, kill you, maybe skull fuck your corpse a couple of times, burn your house to the ground, go home and masturbate! Okay?" Jan stated with a wide grin never once leaving his face as he and his veritable army of Ghouls marched forward.

However, soon a doorway opened and the man blinked when he saw Walter walk out of it. Walter spared the Vampire no words, instead flexing his hand and causing a flash of light. The flash spread forward, with Jan widening his eyes as his cigar fell in half, while two of the Ghouls behind him fell to the ground in pieces. "Oh dear." Walter noted as he slowly walked forward, smirking despite himself. "Did I miss? I guess I'm not a spry as I used to be." Walter mused to himself while waving his left hand around, stings of light seeming to flow like water around him.

"My name is Walter Dolnez, Retainer of The Hellsing family… and former Master Vampire Hunter!" Walter stated before flexing his arm upwards, strings of light flying forward as he did so. Widening his eyes, Jan quickly snapped his fingers while gazing at the man.

"Fire!" He exclaimed and the Ghouls behind him quickly did as bade, opening fire on Walter who dodged every bullet while gripping his strings with his teeth.

"Bit on the slow side aren't they…" Walter noted as he flexed his strings forward, passed Jan. "After all, a Ghoul is just a Ghoul, in theory threatening, certainly tenacious…" Walter noted from his spot, not a single bullet from the Ghouls ever once reaching him. "But honestly, they're quite a distance from indestructible or invincible!" Walter finished with a grin as he pulled back on his strings and instantly sliced several of the Ghouls into pieces behind Jan. Walking forward with a grin, Walter looked to the clearly surprised and possibly even fearful Jan.

"I highly recommend pissing yourself, followed by a course of praying to your impotent god!" Walter ordered and Jan suddenly grinned before laughing loudly as he looked to the older man.

"Now that's fucking great! Cause I gotta tell you plowing through you people was really starting to bore the fuck outta me!" Jan declared before snapping his fingers at his sides and the remaining Ghouls with him formed several straight lines, brought their shields up side to side, and aimed their guns forward between them.

"Oh my." Walter side while widening his one eye, feigning surprise as he watched the Ghouls march forward with a cry of "Hut!" from Jan. Smirking to himself, Walter then quirked a brow before mentally sighing.

"Miss Victoria. Now would be a good time for some support." Walter stated calmly, the said Draculina hearing him from the back of the hall and aiming her Harkonen towards the Ghouls.

"Sir… Right!" Seras exclaimed as she fired off a round from her new weapon, then gaped as it tore through not one, not two, but _**every**_ ghoul in a straight line, shields and all with one single shot, then exploded behind them!

"Second Volley! Fire an incendiary round with a B-T fuse straight through the center ranks!" Walter ordered the young Draculina and the girl felt herself instantly go back into a more serious mindset.

"Yes sir!" She declared while easily unloading the spent shell of her Harkonen and then placed the said ammo into it as ordered. Taking aim with the massive weapon, Seras saw Jan in the center rank, however the man saw her and widened his eyes.

"Oh fuck you!" He declared before getting out of the way as Seras fired the Harkonen, the shell tearing through more of his Ghoul army. Seeming to produce his own Guns from out of nowhere, Jan then lunged forward, towards Walter and opened fire on the man just as he got down. "Like that! You old fuck!" Jan demanded and Walter snapped his eyes open before smirking as his strings caught hold of one of Jan's many piercing. Walter then smirked as he pulled the gold ring out of Jan's lip and the Vampire spat out a bit of blood, even as he grinned.

"OW! DIE!" He cried out while taking aim at Walter once more, only for Seras to run up behind him. Quickly, the young Draculina knocked his guns from his hands, knocked him to the ground and then put him into a well-executed hold, easily pinning down the man.

"I've got him Walter! Are you alright?" Seras questioned as she held Jan down, the said Vampire twitching as he glared up at her.

"Get off Bitch! I'm supposed to be on top!" He gritted out towards her while Walter got up and smiled towards the blond girl.

"I think I'm starting to feel my age." He noticed while walking over to the girl and couldn't help but raise as brow as, even weakened, she was able to hold the Vampire down with relative ease. "That is quite an impressive hold… where did you learn it?" Walter asked as Seras sat up, bending Jan's entire spine into an L shape as she did.

"Well I was a Police officer once." Seras replied with a slight smile while Jan twitched and then glared at her furiously.

"Get the fuck off me! Fucking Vampire Slut!" He shouted and Seras glared back and made the hold just a little more painful for what he decided to call her, though merely made him laugh slightly instead. "Is this chick the best you got? No wonder you all went down like a fucking bunch of pussies!" Jan declared with a slight laugh while Walter's eyes hardened and narrowed onto the man dangerously.

"I'll be asking the questions. What's the objective of this attack? Who are you taking orders from?" Walter demanded of the Vampire and Jan merely grinned towards the man in response.

"Me? I'm just a tourist passing by and totally minding my own business when I thought I might have a look!" Jan replied before widening his eyes and grinning up at Walter as he noticed the slight twitch to the man's left eye. "So we cool, Dude?" He asked eagerly and Walter took a deep breath before stomping down on Jan's hand with the heel of his shoe.

"Young man… the left one's next." Walter stated before twisting his heel onto the Vampire's hand and Jan grit his teeth.

"We were following orders, alright! We were told to attack the Hellsing Headquarters and kill everyone we found inside! We were supposed to confirm the deaths of the Round-Table and your pet Vampire." Jan explained and Walter raised a brow while looking down at the Vampire.

"Hold on… your not the only one in charge here. Who else?" Walter demanded of Jan and the dark skinned Vampire couldn't help but laugh loudly.

"Wow, you're quick! Right now big brother Valentine is downstairs beating Alucard into a Carpet stain!" Jan replied and Seras eyes widened at that tidbit, while Walter frowned, seriously doubting that in the least…

Naruto ducked to the side, evading another Pure-Soulless while Nephilim reached up and then threw her halo at him. Muttering something under his breath, Naruto lunged at a Pure-Soulless and then jumped onto, then off of the creature. While Naruto did have a distinct advantage against Nephilim in raw power, he'd soon learned she had him beat in terms of experience. Clearly, she'd been fighting against people stronger than her for a very long time, as she was easily able to counter his attacks. Not only that, but her ability to control the Pure-Soulless she created also meant she had a tireless, nearly never-ending army to do her bidding.

'_Then again, I have been holding back a bit of power…'_ Naruto reminds himself even as he slices threw two more Pure-Soulless and narrows his eyes on Nephilim. Throwing OWA into the air, Naruto then smirked as he held out a single hand. "Come Out." Naruto suddenly ordered while snapping his fingers, several Neo-Shadows rising out of the shadows of the room, causing Nephilim to growl. Once the Heartless had raised Naruto then aimed his open hand towards a mass of Pure-Soulless with a smirk. "Rip them apart!" The blond declared loudly and the Heartless lunged passed him, ramming into the soulless and causing both sides to start destroying one another.

Twisting around to catch OWA in his free hand, the blond haired teen then lunged at Nephilim while her army of Pure-Soulless was busy being attacked by Heartless. Nephilim quickly raised her scythe to block his attack, both sliding back as she shoved back on the enormous weapon. Twirling his two Keyblades in hand, Naruto then held a hand towards Nephilim, unleashing a wave of Dark-Fire towards her. Ducking out of the way, the woman then lunged forward, swinging her massive scythe towards him in a large horizontal arc.

Jumping over the swing and rolling into a crouch behind Nephilim, Naruto then twisted into a low sweeping kick. Rolling out of the way, Nephilim then turned on her heel, swinging her scythe along with her entire body towards the blond. Cursing lightly, Naruto jumped over the attack only for Nephilim to swing her weapon upwards as she came around, directly at him. Growling low in his throat, the blond concentrated and changed into a cloud of mist, her scythe passing through his new form harmlessly, before he descended on her afterwards.

"_**Now you die!"**_ Naruto voice echoed within the field of mist, before lightning crackled and then arched through the cloud, into a shocked Nephilim who screamed out in pain as she was barraged by lightning. Gripping her weapon tightly through the pain, Nephilim then slammed its pommel into the ground, causing a gust of wind that easily dispersed the mist from around her. However it then slowly reformed across from her, soon solidifying back into the blond haired seeker… only his ears had taken on a noticeable point, his eyes sclera had turned pitch black, and the iris of his eyes were now a bright amber-gold color…

Groaning even as dark shadows began to slowly work their way over his body, Naruto palmed his face while dropping both Soul-Blade and One-Winged-Angel, both vanishing in a flash of darkness… "Such a weak fool…" Nephilim grumbled as she gripped her weapon tightly watching as Naruto groaned and palmed his face with both hands. "To fall so easily into Darkness… your death is now assured!" Nephilim declared only for Naruto to chuckle darkly and then look at her, the shadows that had risen over his form flowing off of him in eerie wisps and coils…

"You… understand so little…" The blond declared as his final spellbinder began to give off a noticeable glow, yet was still not awakened… "Light… Darkness… neither one can destroy the other… for it is only Somebodies who can harness it and channel it through their beings, our Hearts, our Souls, our Bodies, our Minds… only they can channel the two powers and use them for war. And so it is thus thatonly Somebodies who are the only beings which could destroy either Light or Darkness." Naruto whispered as the Spellbinder gave off a brilliant flash, causing the rest of his Spellbinders to glow brightly as well.

"The Spellbinder of Mastery has awakened! Now all their powers shall be yours to command!" Naruto exclaimed even as a grin slipped across his face, the Spellbinders soon sinking into his flesh and vanishing completely. "And now, I'll show you what I have learned…" Naruto declared before stomping on the ground, causing Shadows to spread outwards, tearing through each of the Pure-Soulless destroying them easily before they absorbed the Heartless. Looking around warily Nephilim then yelped as she and Naruto were pulled into the shadows to stand in an endless expanse of Darkness.

"I shant be destroyed by the likes of you, Dark Seeker! Light, it will give me the strength to defeat you!" Nephilim declared loudly, her light spreading out from her body to cause their new field to border both Light and Darkness. Raising a brow for only a moment, Naruto then laughed light as he threw open his coat, each of his Keyblades flying out to circle around him. Dark-Heart, Gears of Madness, One-Winged-Angel, Soul-Blade, and even the Vorpal-Key…

"Do you believe yourself powerful enough? If so, then come forward, and I shall teach you of true Darkness!" Naruto exclaimed, the Soulless roaring as she lunged forward, only for Naruto to smirk and snap his fingers, all five Keyblades coming together in a circular shield to block her scythe. Grinning afterwards, Naruto then held out his arms and legs, instantly the Keyblades began to move and follow them as he started to lash out at the High-Tier Soulless.

Nephilim Grunted as Naruto came at her, his punches and kicks flowing along with the floating Keyblades, tearing into her and slamming against her armor. Frowning deeply, Nephilim quickly created a Barrier between herself and the blond before reaching up for her Halo and then threw it at the blond. The Halo managed to hit him and Nephilim channeled lightning from her hand into the Halo and finally into the blond haired youth, however he merely grinned as it knocked him back. His Keyblades zipped back behind him, locking together to form a pair of wings which he opened and halted himself in midair.

"I admit, you are stubborn, but your arrogance won't win you this battle girl." Naruto reminded while crossing his arms with a smirk, his Keyblades unlocking and forming a circle around his middle. "Besides, I've been wanting to try something out and you seem to be the perfect lab-rat for the job!" Naruto declared before throwing his arms out, all of his Keyblades vanishing as a pair of black wings made out of nine swords formed behind him. "Inverted Wing-Blade!" Naruto declared before vanishing in a flash of light and reappearing before the Soulless with a smirk on his face. Lashing out with his Dark-Blades, Naruto slashed through the Soulless with one of the blades before swinging the next and the next into her.

Lunging forward, the blades spun around the blond, through Nephilim and causing her to back up while Naruto then jumped back and threw one of the blades in a "Wind-Raid" attack. The blade spun around in the air, Naruto controlling its path with one hand as it repeatedly sliced through the Soulless. Watching as the blade Vanished once its use was done, Naruto then grabbed the next one and lunged forward in a "Chaos-Blade" attack, Darkness flowing around him as he stabbed his blade into Nephilim, only to disappear, reappear behind her, and stab into her from behind. Repeating this several times, Naruto finished his attack off by kicking the Soulless in the chest, causing her to fly back from the blow and flip to her feet.

Looking around, Naruto noticed that the Darkness was slowly winning over the light in this battlefield they had come too. Smirking to himself, Naruto then vanished and came at Nephilim once more, stabbing one of the Dark-Blades into her before repeating this with each of the Dark-Blades, leaving a ring of them stabbed around her. Jumping back and into the air, Naruto snapped his fingers and the blades instantly exploded, leaving a smirking Naruto to land on the ground, the Darkness flowing over more of the field before coming to a stop at seventy-five percent…

Meanwhile back in the Sub-Basement, Luke still stands across from the Vampire clad in red. "Your name gets thrown around quite a bit Alucard. The things people say." Luke mused aloud while Alucard did not seem amused, merely frowning towards the blond haired Vampire instead. "They tell stories of your amazing strength, how you glide through oceans of blood. They call you Nightwalker, beyond human, a monster whose power radiates a darkness that casts a shadow unto Darkness itself. Finally I get to know once and for all, if there's anything more to you than rumor." Luke finished while looking to the man, Alucard merely scoffing with a smirk on his lips.

"When I was human I feared you… the stories anyway. And when I gave up being human, when I became this… I began to admire you. You, the first great pioneer of immortality, no matter what the rest of us do, we're all really just chasing your shadow." Luke finished and another scoff came From Alucard as he gazed at the white clothed man with a grin on his face.

"That's ridiculous. You fool… there's no such thing as an Immortal." Alucard stated while looking to the blond haired man and a grin worked its way along Luke's features as well.

"Yes I know, and once I have your head on a stick, everyone else will know it too! So now I get to kill you and make my wildest dreams come true." Luke declared and Alucard merely quirked a brow at the declaration, clearly amused by the blond haired Vampire's words. Quickly each of them pulled out a gun, Alucard his Jackal while Luke pulled out a fairly old-fashioned gun. Aiming their weapons at one another's heads they fired instantly, Alucard's upper head falling to the side while Luke fell back. Soon both men started to laugh, before Luke pulled out a second weapon, then sat up and started to fire several rounds into Alucard.

The red-clad Vampire merely allowed Luke to fire into him, uncaring of any kind of Damage it would do to him. Soon enough his glasses were even knocked off and his body fell back, his mouth twisted into an inhuman grin. Still alive, Alucard lifted his Jackel and began to fire at Luke himself, only for the Blond Vampire to show his impressive speed as he dodged around the bullets almost effortlessly.

"You've never seen anything like me before! I was designed to surpass you in every way! I was born to be your death!" Luke declared while still dodging all of the rounds Alucard was sending his way, grinning widely as he then lunged towards the red clad Vampire. Landing on his torso with his own gun aimed at his head, Luke smirked slightly while looking at him. "Check…" He stated before noticing that Alucard had his Jackal aimed at his heart. Quickly flipping back, Luke evaded another spray of fire from Alucard, only to turn when he saw the Pistol cause a massive explosion behind him.

"A pistol… did that? Jesus…" He whispered to himself while looking to the damage the Jackal had done.

"Your reflexes are amazing!" Alucard suddenly declared and Luke looked back to him and frowned deeply.

"I told you, I'm completely different from any creature you've ever faced before!" Luke declared loudly and then aimed his own weapon towards the red clad Vampire with a wide smirk. "I have the sum-total of all your Vampiric power at my disposal. All of it and more!" Luke declared and a grin spread across Alucard's features once more as he slowly sat up and let out a low whistle in appreciation.

Meanwhile, back on the third floor, Seras still holds Jan in a hold while the dark skinned man grins up at Walter. "Me and my brother, we were designed with the sole intention of killing you fucks. You people are so fucking dead and you don't even know it!" Jan declared and Seras growled while increasing the pressure of her hold on the Dark Skinned Vampire, her eye twitching slightly as she did so.

"You're in no position to make threats." Walter stated simply and drew Jan's attention to him, only for the Vampire to start grinning insanely, then burst into laughter.

"Dude, you must be going senile, Alfred!" Jan declared and Walter felt a twitch of his brow as he glared down at the dark skinned Vampire dangerously. However he then looked up and his eyes widened when he saw more Ghouls marching towards them once more. Seeing his chance to escape, Jan quickly elbowed Seras in the gut and flipped back. Rolling back for a moment, Seras soon managed to stop and then turned to see Jan land before a doorway with a grin.

"And now for our next trick! Check out door number three!" Jan exclaimed as Seras and Walter both widened their eyes upon seeing dozens of members, formerly of the Hellsing Private Army, and now merely Ghouls for Jan and Luke to use…

"My god what have you done?" Walter demanded as the Ghouls quickly approached them, Jan merely grinning as they marched right passed him.

"Time to get this party started!" Jan declared before lunging forward and flipping over Walter before heading towards the Round-Table Conference Room.

"Stop!" Walter ordered with a snarl while throwing his arm forward, strings of light flowing forward and wrapping around Jan's right wrist. Pulling back as Jan lunged forward, Walter was briefly surprised when Jan allowed his arm to be pulled off before lunging to the conference room with a psychotic laugh. Opening the doors however, Jan widened his eyes upon seeing everyman within, and Sir-Integra of course, wielding some kind of gun all aimed directly at him…

"You made it… congratulations." Sir-Integra said somewhat mockingly as they all took aim at Jan and he merely blinked.

"Oh fuck me…" He muttered just as the entirety of the Round-Table opened fire, sending bullet after bullet flying into him and tearing through his body. Soon enough however, the bullets finally stopped and Jan fell to his knees and then fell forward, Sir-Integra's eyes widening at what she saw. _'What!'_ She inwardly demanded as she looked on…

Meanwhile, back with Naruto, the blond haired teen smirks to himself, the smoke and dust from his last attack still hanging in the air, hopefully meaning that his work with Nephilim is finally done. "I… won't give in… to the likes of you…" He heard Nephilim say and rolled his eyes, turning around, the blond spotted the Soulless with a barrier around her, clearly having erected it just as he snapped his fingers. Frowning for a moment, Naruto reformed his five Keyblades around him, the ring of blades slowly spinning around him.

"You'd be smart to give up, I might even be nice and let you continue to exist a little while longer." Naruto noted aloud and Nephilim shook her head before standing up, leaning on her Scythe even as she did, before weakly picking it up and glaring at the young Seeker.

"I will serve my lord and eradicate you from existence, that is my roll and I won't fail!" The Soulless declared and a dark look suddenly crossed Naruto's features, the eerie shadows around his body suddenly becoming more vicious as they started to form long tendrils of Darkness that slammed into the ground.

"So… your nothing but a tool then?" Naruto asked in a dark hollow sounding tone of voice and Nephilim stood and gripped her scythe tightly.

"I am my lord's servant, I shan't fail him in my mission. You see me as nothing but a tool, and perhaps I am, but I will still follow my lord and make certain his will is done!" Nephilim declared and Naruto felt his jaw clench, his hands clenched tight enough to nearly cause him to dig into his palms.

"A tool is a tool and nothing more, they have no free will of their own they are nothing but a mindless weapon to one whose own will has overpowered theirs… something so pathetic could never defeat me, I have a will of my own, dreams of my own, and I serve no will but my own. A servant at least has his or her own will… Haku, Alucard, Seras, they all have wills and dreams of their own to follow… while you just let your master point you in any direction and do as your told blindly…" Naruto retorted darkly his eyes narrowing on Nephilim as the shadows around them began to grow stronger still, slowly snuffing out the light.

"You know nothing, I am loyal to my lord, he has given me a purpose, saved me from the Darkness and given me a never-ending light!" The Court-Soulless declared and yet it was in that moment that the Darkness grew to its strongest, snuffing out the last vestige of light around them from view. Chuckling darkly, Naruto felt his brow twitch at that bit and then glared up at the Court-Soulless with a deep frown on his face.

"So you've come so far, and yet still you understand nothing." Naruto mused with a shake of his head and the five Keyblades suddenly began to hover behind him as he held a single hand out into Darkness. "Every light must fade…" Naruto stated factly, his Dark Armor forming over him like a shell as the black shadows at his hand began to swirl. "Every heart, return to Darkness!" Naruto exclaimed while grasping hold of a new key, yet it was one that clearly instilled fear in Nephilim…

The Keyblade had two barbed shafts that came together at a blue gem with a slit in it like a cats eye, its teeth were designed like a battle ax only split into three claw like protrusions from it, the shaft was black with intricate yet twisting silver patterns along its length that were heaviest near the base of the shaft, the handle was black and seemed to be covered in black leather, above the handle was a horned demonic head, while the guard of the weapon resembled a pair of demonic wings, the pommel of the blade was a fluer de lis, and its chain resembled simple albeit spiked chain links, its charm looking like a flower with another blue cats eye gem centered in it… (KHBBS: No-Heart…)

"That blade…" Nephilim whispered while Naruto held it over his head, the rest of his Keyblades floating up and spinning around it, their tips pointing towards the clearly "Evil" Keyblade. As they did, wind suddenly began to swirl around Naruto and he threw his arm forward, his new Keyblade pointing towards Nephilim. The other Keyblades were suddenly swept up by the wind and began to swirl and flow along with it, soon ramming into Nephilim and lifting her into the air as they repeatedly beat against her body, unyielding in their assault against her.

Grunting in pain, Nephilim quickly formed a barrier between herself and the Keyblades, yet they continued to pound into the shell around her. Gritting her teeth as she tried to keep the barrier up, Nephilim then cried out as the barrier exploded, sending her flying back while Naruto brought the "Keyblade Storm" flowing back to him before jumping onto it and directing it with his open hand. Flowing and spinning with the storm, the Keyblades still obeyed Naruto's commands as they soon came towards Nephilim, the Soulless slowly pushing herself from the ground only to gasp upon seeing him.

Chuckling darkly, Naruto then reached down, grasping hold of One-Winged-Angel before lunging down at Nephilim. The rest of his Keyblades continued to spin and twirl within the Keyblade-Storm, before turning and heading straight for Nephilim. Twisting in midair, Naruto brought his body up and swung both of his Keyblades down at Nephilim, the Soulless barely evading him and panting as he landed on the ground and chuckle darkly. "Why do you struggle? Give in and end your needless suffering…" The blond said in a deadly tone, but before she could reply, Nephilim was struck by the Keyblade-Storm from the side and sent screaming as it continued to slice into her.

Her armor began to crack and pieces started to chip away under the barrage before Naruto held up a hand, stopping the assault prematurely. Smirking slightly, Naruto then snapped his fingers, the Keyblades vanishing into a swirl of Darkness while the blond haired seeker tossed No-Heart up. The weapon suddenly began to shift and change, forming into four wings at his back, and causing no small amount of fear in Nephilim as he held One-Winged-Angel tightly, the ebony blade of the weapon giving off a sinister purple light as he did. Chuckling lightly, the blond then held his weapon towards Nephilim and grinned darkly as he fired off a "Dark-Volley" at her from its tip.

Nephilim had all of two seconds to react as the blasts came at her; barely managing to drag herself to her feet she slammed her scythe into the ground and created her strongest barrier. Given that this time it was merely energy slamming into it, she was quite pleased when it managed to hold up against the Seeker of Darkness's assault. However she was then shocked to see the seeker vanish, a few black feathers floating where he had been a mere few moments ago.

Feeling a presence form behind her, Nephilim slowly turned only to grunt as No-Heart shifted its shape once more, changing into a claw over his right arm that took hold of her and slowly lifted her off the ground. "Your absolutely worthless." Naruto's voice came out, dark and hollow as he then lifted her into the air before slamming her down into the ground, a strangled cry tearing its way from her body as he did. Scoffing lightly, Naruto then lifted the female Soulless once more before throwing her into the air. No-Heart changed once more as he did, becoming a single greave over his right leg as he lunged into the air after her.

Twisting around, Naruto started to kick into the female-Soulless wildly, slicing into her and tearing chunks of her armor off before finishing with one final Ax-Kick to her back, sending her slamming into the ground. Reforming the claw form of No-Heart, Naruto then lunged down at the ground and slammed the claw as a fist into her back, Nephilim's entire body arched and a silent scream of absolute agony tried to escape her but she fell forward a second later, Naruto scoffing as he got off of her back and watcher her slowly try to crawl away from him.

"Now where do you think your going?" Naruto demanded calmly as he grabbed her leg with the claw form of No-Heart, then lifted her up and slammed her down into the ground. Once, turned around and slammed her into the ground again, and then roared out as he lifted her up and then brought her down onto the ground, slamming her down and leaving her in a broken heap. Shaking his head and scoffing, Naruto reformed No-Heart over his right leg and then placed his foot at Nephilim's back, digging it down into her as she gave another pained cry as the blade began to dig into her back. Kicking the Soulless away from himself a second later, Naruto reformed No-Heart into his hand and held both it and One-Winged-Angel towards the Soulless.

"Any last words before I release you to oblivion?" Naruto questioned simply and the Soulless slowly looked up, the cross over its face slowly chipping away where her eyes should have been… and revealing a pair of bright crimson red eyes in their place. Looking surprised for a moment, Naruto then watched as Nephilim began to twitch and twist, dark shadows rising from her body as she slowly stood up and gazed at him with a furious look in her newly revealed eyes.

"You… son of a bitch…" Nephilim growled out her voice taking on a noticeably different tone than before. "I want you to fucking die!" She roared out while lunging at him with surprising speed, swinging her scythe down at him only for the blond to flip back and then watch as her scythe shifted and changed. No longer like a cross, the blade and shaft now looked like they had been forged from molten rock, deep red lines crossing down the length of the blade and shaft, while two extra blades formed out of the weapon mere seconds later.

"It would seem as if "The Eyes are Windows to the Soul" isn't just a saying with you…" Naruto mumbled before casually dodging a swing from Nephilim, a roar tearing its way from her throat as she came at him. "So this is what you were like before you became a Soulless… such a pity, I think I like you better this way." Naruto then mused aloud while Nephilim sneered and twirled her scythe in her hands.

"Shut up and die you stupid fucker!" She growled out while lunging forward, swinging her scythe at him repeatedly, which he soon blocked by changing No-Heart into a claw once more, the weapon acting as a shield on his arm as he held her back.

"Really now, is that any way for a lady to be speaking?" Naruto quipped dryly only fro Nephilim to kick him in the stomach, knocking him back slightly while she then slammed the pommel of her scythe into his head, causing him to stumble back further. _'She also seems more dangerous like this… strange…'_ Naruto inwardly noted while Nephilim continued to glare at him with her true eyes, black shadows flowing out of every crack and crevice in her armor as she did so.

"What the fuck would you know?" She growled out and jumped into the air before bringing her Scythe down, causing a small tremor which she used to her advantage by swinging her scythe at Naruto, the blond barely catching the blade of the weapon before it would've sliced into and through him. _'Hmm… seems she's lost all since of restraint, ahh I see… with her soul laid bare, its returning her Darkness too her, so this could be how a Black Soulless is created.'_ Naruto inwardly reasoned and sure enough, sections of Nephilim's pure white suit were turning a deep black color instead.

Smirking slightly despite himself, Naruto then watched as Nephilim came at him with her scythe once more, only for the blond to vanish in a flash of black, several ebony feathers floating in his wake. Turning all around to look for the blond, Nephilim didn't sense the Dark-Corridor that formed above her. Nor was she aware of Naruto hovering above her, No-Heart changed into its "Wing-Glider" form while he gripped One-Winged-Angel tightly. Turning the blade tip down in his hands, Naruto then allowed himself to fall on top of the girl, a brief whisper escaping his lips as he did…

"Give in to the dark." He whispered ominously even as the OWA somehow tore its way through Nephilim's back, spine, and stomach as if it were a regular sword, its blade glowing an ominous red. Widening her eyes, Nephilim lost her grip on her scythe, the weapon falling from her fingers as she looked down to the blade now protruding from her stomach. However she wasn't given much time to contemplate this before Naruto gripped the hilt of One-Winged-Angel and lifted Nephilim up into the air, still impaled upon his Keyblade…

"Like I told you before there is no chance of someone like you ever beating me." Naruto stated flatly even as the black glass of his helmet began to glow, soon fading away as the yellow-eyed teen smirked up at the dying Soulless. Looking at the dying Soulless for only a moment, Naruto then tossed her body to the side and watched as it began to fade away with a slight frown on his face.

"T-To die… like this… b-before… I c-could avenge… th-theme…" A whisper of a voice echoed from Nephilim and Naruto walked over to her before kneeling down and viewing the conflicting emotions in her eyes.

"Who are you?" Naruto questioned and he watched as she looked up, a brief flash of a blond haired woman in purple appearing before his eyes, her crimson red eyes all that remained of her original self.

"S-Sylvia… Sylvia of the House of Blood…" She replied quietly before laying her head down as Darkness continued to eat away at her form. "Remus… I come to see you now… my love…" She whispered while closing her eyes seconds later, Sylvia Blood then faded away, her body disappearing into the shadows while Naruto watched on silently. Soon enough only a red sphere remained, a summoning stone, which Naruto reached out and looked at for a brief moment before slowly standing up and placing it into his coat.

"Another ally, and one less enemy, all and all, this visit was a worth the trip…" Naruto mused to himself while looking down at No-Heart with a frown, recognizing it as the same Keyblade Master-Xehanort used in his dreams. "Why do I have you now?" He wondered to himself even as he was returned to the Hellsing Mansion, and instantly noticed that the fighting was over, humming under his breath, the blond haired youth walked away, heading out to find out if anyone was still alive…

(Sanctuary of Light…)

"Nephilim has fallen…" Seraph suddenly intoned while sitting within his throne, the other members of the Court seeming unsurprised. In fact, only the Redeemer, their newest member, seemed confused by what that was supposed to mean.

"Attacking the Seeker of Darkness directly, an admirable tactic though she forgot his powers have been growing… had she done so when we first gave her the order to deal with him she might have defeated him." Inquisitor noted with a calm tone, drumming his fingers along the armrest of his throne absently.

"Still, while losing Nephilim herself is not much of a loss, her ability to rapidly produce new Pure-Soulless for our use could hamper our plans." Archangel reminded the rest of the court and instantly received nods of agreement, Redeemer still confused by what the older Court Soulless meant.

"What do you mean? How could she rapidly produce Soulless?" Redeemer questioned of the other Court members and Inquisitor chuckled lightly before replying to their newest member.

"Nephilim was a unique Soulless like the rest of us in the court. She had an ability to overpower the wills of other beings and force light into their souls. This ability is not shared between us however, making her of some use to produce an army. Sadly for her however, Archangel is far more… how shall I say… "Gifted" when it comes to convincing those with strong wills to joins us freely. Thus only the weak of will can be turned by Nephilim and make only the weakest Soulless in our ranks." Inquisitor explained with a wave of his hand, his fingers twitching slightly as he did so.

"I… I see." Redeemer suddenly replied while crossing his arms over his chest, and then looked to Seraph. "Now that Nephilim is gone, who shall be assigned the duty of destroying the Seeker?" The Redeemer questioned, clearly going to volunteer if their esteemed leader had now one else to do so.

"I believe that I have a theory on one of us who could do battle with him…" Inquisitor said suddenly Seraph looking to the "Oldest" member of their order; at least physically he was oldest what with his bent fragile form belying the raw power he had.

"Well Inquisitor, do tell." Seraph states while looking to the aged soulless of the court and he slowly gets up. Crossing his arms behind his back the aged Soulless then walks forward and looks away from Seraph for a moment.

"Simple milord… you send, Saint." Inquisitor replied while never once turning to look at Seraph, the gold plated leader of the Soulless raising a brow at the idea.

"Saint? Surely you've not forgotten we still need to reach THAT world before Saint can be excused from his duties…" Seraph reminded and Inquisitor slowly nodded his head before holding out a hand to his side, his fingers twitching as he did so.

"Too true, however, I shall take over all of Saint's Duties along with my own. Creating new Soulless through is clearly impossible, however, I have heard of many objects in the Dark-Realm which rip the souls out of Somebodies… perhaps with those, we could bolster our ranks further." Inquisitor replied while never once looking directly at any of the other Soulless around him.

"You seem a bit too confident in yourself Inquisitor, were you not the one who was having trouble with his research not long ago…" Archangel challenged and the Inquisitor chuckled lightly as he folded his hands behind his back.

"Yes indeed… however, as I said then it is all but impossible to artificially recreate the exact conditions needed to create a Soulless. This is due to the innumerable variables that I have found, not even a person who is all but consumed in light is guaranteed to become a Soulless, while on the flip side, many consumed with Darkness have shown that they are more easily turned… what exactly this means is unknown, which in itself makes it hard to recreate the birth of a Soulless." Inquisitor replied and saw the confusion on Archangel, though it was more his body language than anything.

"Perhaps we should ask Saint for his own opinion on the matter…" Cenobyte suddenly stated in his eternal monotone and Seraph nodded his head before they all looked to the member in question. Sighing for a moment, Saint slowly stood up and walked forward, forming a sword into his right hand afterwards and kneeling down before Seraph.

"Milord, it would be my honor to fight the Seeker of Darkness for you… Inquisitor is more than adequate to locate that world for you." Saint replied while Seraph slowly nodded his head before crossing his arms over his chest. Chuckling lightly, Inquisitor felt his fingers twitch, before walking towards the doorway while the rest of the court went about their business…

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

Back with Alucard, the dark haired Vampire continues to fire bullet after bullet towards Luke, never once even bothering to dodge Luke's own and frustrating the blond haired Vampire greatly. _'He's not even trying to dodge the bullets. Does he think he's indestructible?'_ Luke wondered inwardly as he continued to dodge and weave between the spray of fire from Alucard. _'Everything has a breaking point!'_ He inwardly thought to himself while firing more shots into Alucard once more, plowing bullet after bullet into the red clad Vampire. _'He may act like he's not injured, but he's taking far more damage than I am!'_ Luke thought, more to assure himself than anything else.

And, as he finally saw Alucard lower his guns, arms hanging down and his head bowed, a wide fanged grin stretched across his features. _'I can beat him!'_ He thought to himself triumphantly only to stop when he heard a cold chuckle come from Alucard. "Yes… excellent! I haven't had this much fun in ages!" Alucard declared before letting out another bit of laughter and looking up towards Luke with a grin. "What did you say your name was?" Alucard questioned of the blond even as all the blood that had been spilled slowly flowed back into him, Luke's eyes widening.

"Its Luke, Luke Valentine!" He replied while staring in a mix of awe and fear towards the red clad Vampire as he straightened up.

"Luke Valentine… its obvious that your powers are beyond even the highest category of Vampire." Alucard declared while the seals on his gloves started to emit a crimson red glow. "Releasing Control art restriction systems… three… two… one…" Alucard stated while bringing his hands up beside of his head. "Approval of situation A recognized… commencing the Cromwell implication, ability restrictions lifted for limited use, till the enemy has been rendered silent…" Alucard declared while opening his hands and forming a box with his forefingers and thumbs, a single blood red eye opening to look out from between them.

As he did, blood red eyes suddenly opened up from the shadows around Luke, his eyes widening in fear, as Alucards body seemed to shift and spread out into the shadows and darkness themselves! "Now Luke Valentine, its time to educate you on how a _**real**_ Vampire does battle!" Alucard declared loudly while Luke looked on in horror towards the warped distortions all around him. A massive pair of dogs heads moving and forming out of the red clad Vampire's shoulder only to roar as they lunged towards Luke, Alucards hands and head falling to the ground worthlessly while the Darkness that was his power coiled along the floor.

As soon as the dog came after him, Luke screamed in terror before turning and attempting to run away from the monster he'd found. However, Alucard's left arm then formed out of the dog's mouth and used the Jackal to shoot Luke's left leg out from under him, causing him to lean against the wall and attempt to hobble his way out of the Sub-Basement, away from Alucard. However as he did, Alucard fired once more, taking out Luke's other leg and causing the blond haired man to fall to the floor with a cry of pain. Sliding along the floor and reaching the base of the steps, the blond haired man slowly looked up and laughed in self-pity when he realized he couldn't escape…

Turning around, Luke saw the darkness that was Alucard slowly flow and twist towards him. "What are you? What in the hell are you!" Luke demanded of the monster before him, which was nothing but a swirling black mass with numerous blood red eyes looking at him evily.

"_**C'mon! Get up! Attack me! You've only suffered the loss of your legs!"**_ Alucard's voice came out in an evil hiss while his arm formed out of the shadowy mass and lifted one of Luke's legs up. _**"Summon up your familiars! Transform your body! Heal your severed legs and stand!"**_ Alucard demanded loudly with an enormous fanged grin looking down at a completely terrified Luke Valentine. _**"The Evening is still so young! C'mon Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!"**_ Alucard demanded as his body reformed, bound in a suit with numerous straps, an enormous red eye positioned at the middle of his torso and both looking down at Luke expectantly.

"_**Pull yourself together! The fun has only just begun!"**_ Alucard declared with a wide insane grin across his face as he looked down at the blond haired Vampire. _**"C'mon, HURRY!"**_ Alucard demanded loudly, his shadow spreading outwards with hundreds of eyes staring at Luke expectantly.

"M-M-Monster!" Luke declared loudly while looking at Alucard, the Vampire blinking as he did, his shadow slowly receding back into his own body.

"_**So… I see you for what you really are! You're pathetic! Nothing but a useless sniveling lump of meat!"**_ Alucard exclaimed furiously while glaring down at Luke and the man managed to find some small amount of courage as he glared back.

"Shut up! You're nothing but the Hellsing Family Toy! A dog to the Church of England! Not even fit to call himself a Vampire! How can you let them…" He started to say only for Alucard's eyes to flash dangerously.

"_**Silence!"**_ Alucard ordered in a tone that brokered no argument, Luke falling silent and looking on fearfully towards him. _**"I'm a dog?"**_ Alucard suddenly questioned even as a massive demon dogs head formed out of his shoulder, its many eyes looking down at Luke dangerously. _**"Then your dog-food!"**_ Alucard declared as the dog head lunged forward, devouring every last bit of Luke Valentine's body and leaving only his blood splattered across the walls and steps. _**"Is that really all you had?"**_ Alucard wondered to himself as he slowly shook his head slowly.

"_**Its such a shame that I overestimated you. As a Vampire, you were a pathetic piece of shit… now you're nothing but dog-shit!"**_ Alucard mused aloud before pulling all of Luke's blood from the floor and into his body. _**"The one upstairs didn't seem like much, but their having more trouble with him than I would've expected."**_ Alucard noted to himself before turning around and grinning as he sees Naruto standing across from him, eyes still a bright amber-gold color and his pointed ears poking out from his blond hair. _**"Well well, then do you wish to fight me instead? **__**Human**__**?"**_ Alucard suddenly questioned and Naruto merely arched a brow towards Alucard, even as a dark grin slowly crossed his features and shadows seemed to flow out of his body…

Meanwhile back on the third floor, Seras is running from the mass of Ghouls, only for one to grasp her leg and cause her to fall forward. Watching on with wide horrified eyes, Sir-Integra cannot help but shake in her seat. "My men… they've turned all my men into Ghouls!" She stated while the Ghouls grabbed at Seras and started to try and pull her back into their mass. However, Seras blue eyes soon started to twitch before her anger rose to a boil, and turned bright blood red… Grinning widely, Seras knocked the first of the Ghouls off of herself, Sir-Integra's eyes widening as she did.

Instantly, Seras started to rip, smash, crush, and otherwise destroy every Ghoul near her. Her eyes a fierce blood red, her mouth twisted into a wide Cheshire cat grin that Alucard would be proud of. However it was clear to both Walter and Sir-Integra that this was nothing similar to what Alucard was this was far more sinister. Seras destroyed each and every Ghoul she could, soon enough panting while looking at her blood soaked hands with a wide grin on her face.

"Seras!" Sir-Integra exclaimed while getting up and running to the blond haired Draculina, wrapping her arms around her as the blond panted heavily. "That's enough you can stop, please… stop." Sir-Integra pleaded while holding the blond girl and she took slow even breaths, her eyes returning to their original blue before widening as she saw the blood and gore that lay all around her. Meanwhile, Walter kicked Jan Valentine back into a wall, the still living Vampire bleeding profusely even as he chuckled lightly towards the pale man.

"It's all over." Walter stated in a deadly tone and Jan grinned while holding his stump of a right arm.

"Nice… c'mon and get me dick!" Jan demanded and Walter sneered down at the man instead.

"Oh I'm not going to kill you. Not until after you tell me who put you up to this. Then I'll put you out of your misery." Walter responded and then bit at his fingers, pulling several of his strings out and Jan scoffed.

"Are you serious? You fucking pussy!" Jan declared before watching Walter move to the side and give a bow to Sir-Integra as she walked over with Seras. "What up, Bitch?" Jan questioned and Sir-Integra narrowed her eyes onto the dark skinned Vampire dangerously. The woman then lashed out, repeatedly shooting the dark skinned Vampire in the head with a deep frown.

"We'll have no more of this… I'm pissed off." Sir-Integra stated while Jan managed a weak chuckle and an Ow in response. "Now then, who are you people? What did you hope to accomplish here? Whose responsible for this?" Sir-Integra demanded and then snarled, as Jan remained completely silent as his response. "Start talking!" She demanded of the Vampire and he began to laugh at her instead. "Answer!" Sir-Integra demanded of the dark-skinned man as he leaned back into the wall and looked at her with a wide grin on his face.

"C'mon, bitch you know… the ones that put the fucking chip in me." Jan replied while slowly getting up to his feet and leaning back into the wall. "The chip that's sending information, letting them know we fucked up… they can hear us talking, every last goddamned word. If they know I'm standing here all fucked up and dying, about to tell you everything, you think they're gonna let me fucking live?" Jan demanded before he suddenly burst into blue flames, Seras, Sir-Integra, and Walter all looking on in shock as Jan chuckled to himself.

"See! I so fucking told you! Well since I'm fucked how about I piss a little wisdom on you dipshits!" Jan mused aloud while Walter moved himself between Sir-Integra and the clearly insane Vampire. "You can take this clue, and shove it up your ass bitch!" Jan exclaimed while flipping them all off with a wide grin on his face. "Beware… the… Millennium…" Jan managed to get out before his body began to degrade, his hand remaining the longest and still flipping them all off even after the rest of his body had turned to nothing but ash…

"That's it… Millennium?" Sir-Integra questioned of no one while looking down at the remains of Jan Valentine for a moment, Walter turning to the woman with clear concern on his face.

"Are you alright Sir-Integra?" Walter questioned and the platinum blond let out a slight sigh before answering the man.

"Yes. I'm fine." She replied wearily while turning and stowing her gun away in her suit while turning to what remained of the twitching mass of former Hellsing Soldiers. "And as for them… please… put them out of their misery, Walter." Sir-Integra pleaded softly before looking up as the bespectacled man from the Round-Table stood before her with a frown.

"Of course…" Walter started to say before the man walked forward.

"Walter, you will belay that order." The man stated simply and then held a gun out to Sir-Integra instead. "The responsibility must fall, to their leader. Sir-Integra, it is your duty." The man stated simply and Walter moved forward, looking at the man in no small amount of outrage.

"No Sir-Islands, that's going too far!" Walter stated while looking at Integra from the corner of his eye.

"This entire situation could have been prevented… Integra, your lack of preparation is an offense. And since this facility is under your command, the responsibility is yours." Sir-Islands stated while looking Integra right in the eye and all but ignoring both Walter and Seras. "The fact that these men died and were reanimated as these creatures is entirely your fault!" Sir-Islands continued to say and Walter felt rage boil within him as he glared at the man furiously.

"How dare you sir?" He demanded while feeling his fingers start to twitch, itching to slice the man into pieces.

"Walter!" Sir-Integra stated while holding out her arm and the man stopped before looking to her. Integra slowly reached out a hand and took hold of the gun from Sir-Islands before walking passed the man. Moving over to the still twitching bodies of the Ghouls who had once been her men, Sir-Integra knelt down and placed the barrel of the gun against ones head. "I do not ask for your forgiveness, this is my burden." She whispered before closing her eyes and trying to steady her hand before slowly placing her finger on the trigger…

"Now Walter, see what you can find out about this Millennium. I expect you to work quickly and thoroughly." Sir-Islands ordered and Walter felt his fingers twitch for only a moment before answering.

"Yes… of course sir." He replied and watched as Sir-Islands gritted his teeth in anger while looking to Sir-Integra.

"We will see them pay a thousand fold for this horror!" The man stated icily just before the first gunshot finally rang out…

(Dark Meridian…)

A man in a long black hooded coat wanders out of a Dark-Corridor; marching forward he soon comes to a halt at the edge of the beach. "I can't believe those idiots managed to convince me to do this." The man mused, his voice tired and strained, intricate silver patterns weaved into his black coat, his hands are covered in old worn fingerless black gloves with metal plates at the back of each, a black leather bracelet with a buckle worn around each wrist, his black knee length boots covered by several straps, while the rest of his outfit was concealed by his black cloak.

Gazing out towards the light in the distance silently, the man's twin hazel green eyes stared from the shadows of his hood even as another Dark Corridor opened up behind him. Turning his eyes in that direction, the man made no other attempt to look at who walked out of the portal, silently crossing his arms instead. In response, the two figures walk over to the man, the larger of the two putting an arm over his shoulders while the shorter one slinked up from his side.

"Liximawl, what are you doing out here? Don'cha know your not supposed to be in this story?" The voice of the smaller figure, a girl not that much younger than the man, came and the man shook his head for a moment.

"If I'm not mistaken, it was you two that convinced me to come here in the first place." The man replied calmly, though the tiredness didn't seem to leave him even as he did so.

"Aww, c'mon don't be stingy mister author dude! You gotta do better than just that!" The girl declared and the man turned towards her before shaking his head, truly wondering why the girl insisted on calling him that.

"_**Yeah man, you shouldn't be walking around this "World" like this, I mean I know **__**Stan Lee**__** does something similar with his movies and all but you can do better than just a walk on roll."**_ The taller figure, whose voice sounded like Smoke and Gasoline, offered as well and the black-cloaked man reached a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I can do what I please, thank you very much!" The man stated flatly both figures looking to each other before snickering to themselves, clearly not believing the man. Twitching at this, the black-cloaked figure then reached up a single hand and removing his hood. What is revealed is a man, his skin appearing slightly tanned with a black spot on his right cheekbone, dark circles are present around hazel green eyes giving the girl an annoyed look, his wavy brown hair being unkempt and messy, while a short goatee was present over his chin, a mustache over his upper lip.

"Twould seem you both have forgotten that I don't like being laughed at." The man noted and both stopped for a moment before snickering louder as he visibly twitched and narrowed his eyes.

"_**Chill Author-Guy, it's not the end of the world… I mean so what if a non-existent character from a work of fiction is laughing at you? Oh wait… that is kinda sad."**_ The big one noted and then laughed under his breath while the small one patted the man on the back with a wide grin across her face.

"Yeah mister-author-dude, but you still don't have to be so dramatic about everything." The girl reminded and a slight, and kind of creepy, smirk crossed the man's features as he suddenly snapped his fingers, instantly causing a light to appear from somewhere and revealing the two to anyone looking at them.

The first was the girl; she has messy shoulder length fire-truck red hair, stark white skin with an acrobat's physique and gentle curve, brilliant violet eyes, and red lips. She wears a green waistcoat with only two buttons done and leaving her navel visible, with a sleeveless V neck purple coat over it with two long tails and a green collar that is folded down over her shoulders, a single button holding it closed, while a yellow flower has been placed in her lapel, a pair of forearm length fingerless black gloves cover her hands with purple stitching at the backs and purple bands around her wrists, a pair of tight purple pants stuffed into a pair of spats over her bare feet, with a loose green belt around her waist with a pouch hanging from it at her left hip, another green pouch strapped to her right thigh, and a small brown backpack at her back.

The man however wears a red bodysuit, however the sides of his ribs, hips and thighs, his shoulders, and his sleeves down to his biceps are black, he wears a pair of red collared gloves with black patches on the backs, a pair of red boots with black soles and black pouches around his ankles, a black collar is also worn around his neck, a black bandoleer over his torso with a pair of katana sheathed at his back, an old brown utility belt with a symbol at the buckle that resembles the mask he wears, a pair of gun holsters hanging from its sides with two guns holstered in them, a black strap around his right thigh with several black pouches over it, a knife strapped to his left shin, and a red hood like mask with white eyes and black circles around them.

As the two were revealed, Liximawl smirked while moving away from them and causing them to look at one another then out to an unseen crowd. "Hiya folks! Miss me?" The girl asked with a wide nearly psychotic grin on her face while the man with the twin Katana chuckled and gave a thumbs up.

"_**Hello lady's and gentlemen who actually read this worthless piece of fan-fiction! Deadpool here to liven up your normally dull and pointless existences with my ever amusing banter and black humor!"**_ The man in red, Deadpool, said while looking to an unseen audience, Liximawl frowning, as they didn't even seem to acknowledge his presence. Clearing his throat, the man got their attention, causing them to look at him curiously as he turned his back to them and closed his eyes.

"Duela, Deadpool… shut up for once in both your lives and listen to me cause I'm only going to say this one time." Liximawl ordered while turning back around, only to slap his face as he saw the two each making a silly face at him. "Can't you two be serious for even a second?" Liximawl demanded while feeling his left brow twitch and the two looked to one another before grinning.

"_**N**_o_**!"**_ The two said together and Liximawl muttered something under his breath before twitching his hands and cracking his neck.

"Alright then just pay attention!" Liximawl ordered and the two looked to one another and grinned deviously. "Cause if you don't I can and _will_ erase you from this story completely!" Liximawl threatened and the two turned and looked at him with wide eyes, Duela pouting while Deadpool resisted the urge to rant about the unfairness of it all… "Good, now that I've finally got your attention. I need you two to head over to Olympus Coliseum and prepare for the Chaos Cup." Liximawl ordered and Deadpool and Duela looked to one another before Duela tilted her head to one side.

"Why?" She asked and Liximawl turned around with a smirk.

"Cause you both get to host it… that's why." Liximawl replied and saw both Duela and Deadpools eyes suddenly light up. "Oh, and before I forget, you both get some help keeping the contestants in line… I believe you both already know them all fairly well…" The man then stated while snapping his fingers and causing a group to form out of a Dark-Corridor, a grin splitting Duela's face while Deadpool punched the air.

"_**Ha! This is going to be awesome; I can't wait to see Xehanort and Aqua fight each other! No no no! I wanna see Kratos fight some big fucker in an epic match that'll make everyone else look like a pussy! Yeah, maybe you could put the Incredible Hulk in this story and have him and Kratos have an exhibition match! Oh, or maybe you can put Spidey in and have him and "Zero" exchange witty banter for a while! Or better yet have me kick some idiots ass myself with my doorknobs!"**_ The man started to say while upholstering his guns from his sides and twirling them in his hands, Liximawl rolling his eyes even as Duela jumped up and wrapped her arms around the man's neck.

"Aw I love you mister-author-dude! Especially when your all nice to the crazy people like me and Deadpool!" Duela exclaimed and Liximawl rolled his eyes before snapping his fingers once more, the entire group vanishing in a swirl of shadows…

TBC…

AN: Sorry! I really am sorry for not updating anything, but I've been more than a little preoccupied with life lately. So as not to bore you with my complaints I won't even bother to list them all. Instead, I only hope you enjoyed the newest Chapter, next we'll be leaving the Hellsing world again, but it will play a big role in the future, so expect to see it again at least one more time! Until then, Ciao!


	34. Aftermath

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 32**_: _**Aftermath**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(Agrabah…)

Riku panted as he fell back into a low crouch, one hand still gripping the handle of his Keyblade. Looking up, the silver haired teen watched as The Mysterious Figure walked forward, his own blades still in hand. _"Intriguing powers, your skill is great, but sadly, not up to par with your predecessors."_ The Mysterious Figure noted with his strange and distorted way of speaking, one that resembled the "Lingering Sentiment" that he and Sora had faced together as training. But oddly enough, as strong as he'd been, Riku believed that this Mysterious Figure was by far and wide a more powerful and dangerous opponent.

"What… do you mean… by predecessors?" Riku questioned while climbing to his feet, hoping to stave off his own defeat and gain a little information on this potentially devastating opponent for the future. Tilting his head for a second The Mysterious Figure then twirled his ethereal blades in hand with a flourish before crossing his arms, his blades seeming to harmlessly pass through his body.

"_What I mean is simple, I speak of the three Key-Bearers whom I faced nearly twelve of your years ago… though, since time is such a mundane concept to me I don't bother to keep up with it, it is mine to bend and twist as I see fit after all, why should the day or year even matter."_ The Mysterious figure noted mostly to himself before Moving out of the way as Riku barely managed to fire a weak wave of light towards him. _"Ah, so the time out is over, good, then let us continue."_ The Mysterious Figure decided before lunging forward in a blaze of swirling flames, slamming into Riku and sending him flying back before forming a dagger with his weapon and throwing it at the teen.

The Dagger flew through the air and into Riku's chest, a string of pale ethereal energy connecting it to The Mysterious Figure's other weapon as he pulled down on it and brought Riku slamming into the sand. Pulling his dagger back, The Mysterious Figure then combined both blades before spinning them in hand, causing them to form a Double Bladed weapon which he then sent spinning towards the weakened and wounded form of Riku. _'He's… too fast… and powerful… I can't keep up…'_ The silver haired teen thought to himself before something impacted with The Mysterious Figure's weapon, knocking it off course where it spun around and returned to the cloaked man's hands.

"_Ahh, more guests, and two whom I am pleased to admit are very lovely…"_ The Mysterious Figure said with a courteous bow to someone, Riku grunting as he turned his head to see two woman. The First was clearly the older of the two, she had fair skin with a purple diamond mark on her forehead, honey colored eyes, long blond hair in twin ponytails and red painted lips. She wears a grey top that is only kept closed with a white sash around her waist, a green jacket with the Kanji for "Gamble" on the back, a pair of tight black pants, and odd looking sandals on her feet.

Beside of her and holding a pig in a vest / necklace is another woman. This one looks to be in her twenties, with short dark hair and equally dark eyes with tanned skin and a lithe figure. She wears a dark kimono with a white trim and grey sash around her waist, the same Sandals as the blond haired woman covering her feet. Riku also notices a knife like weapon in one of her hands, as well as strange bands around her exposed forearm with odd devices attached to them.

"Okay, who are you and why are you attacking this Gaki?" The blond woman questioned with a deep frown and The Mysterious Figure gave a rather grand bow.

"_Forgive me if I sound rude milady, however I do not feel obliged to surrender my name so readily. However my intentions are simple, I wished to test the limits of this Key-Bearer of Twilight. I have faced a Key-Bearer of Light before, and for my research I must face one of each realm, Light, Twilight, and of course Darkness as well."_ The Mysterious Figure replied before standing straight up, the two woman looking more than a little on edge from the strange "Grinding of Metal" that seemed to make up his voice and tone to their ears, completely masking his true identity. Shaking her head of that thought, the blond woman then crossed her arms over her impressive bust and frowned towards The Mysterious Figure deeply.

"That a fact? Well then, you should know that I'm not too keen on you beating on someone so significantly weaker than you. It's bad enough I have no idea where the hell I am, but watching you hurt a kid for no other reason than curiosity is pissing me off." The woman stated before slipping off her jacket and tossing it at the other woman. "Hold that for me Shizune, this shouldn't take too long. Oh and see about healing that kid while your at it." The blond haired woman stated while the brunette blinked and then tried to say something, only for the busty blond to ignore her as she cracked her knuckles before rolling her right arm around in its socket.

"_Intriguing, I can tell you have a strong heart… but wait… Ahhh yes, a Heart from a Dark World. Now this could prove to be most enlightening, I have heard that any true Warrior of Darkness is significantly more powerful than the copycats of this realm… let us put that to the test, shall we."_ The Mysterious figure decided with a nod of his head and the woman shook her head at his arrogant tone. _'If this moron thinks some kind of scientist can take out a trained Shinobi, then he has a…'_ She started to think to herself only for The Mysterious Figure to move in a flash and appear before her. _'What the hell!'_ She inwardly demanded before cursing as she ducked out of the way of one of his strange Ethereal Blades.

Rolling into a crouch, the woman watched the blade as it sliced through some sand and frowned deeply. She watched as the sand seemed to fade for a moment, before rapidly hardening into a strip of stone. _'Crap, time-space-distortion blades… they don't actually inflict cuts or wounds, they literally speed up or slow down time randomly when they hit you. Your body is "Hurt" only in that its like having a portion of you missing a percentage of your lifespan… shit, who the hell is this guy?'_ She noted with no small amount of worry as The Mysterious Figure suddenly vanished in a bright flash and Tsunade ducked as he almost took her head off.

Growling furiously, the busty blond dug one foot into the ground while twisting into a punch that connected with The Mysterious Figure's sternum and sent him flying back into a large boulder. _'Ha! Take that!'_ She thought with a grin, only for her eyes to widen as she felt everything slow down, then move backwards, The Mysterious Figure flying back towards her as her fist went back to his Sternum, only to move back as if time itself were moving in reverse. Looking at him with wide eyes as she soon found herself able to move, she made to punch him again, but The Mysterious Figure evaded this time and flipped back several times before coming to a stop.

'_That… that isn't possible! He just controlled time itself like it was nothing! What the hell is this guy?'_ She inwardly demanded while The Mysterious Figure twirled his blades in hand for a moment before lunging at her once more. However this time, he seemed to split into five separate bodies, the woman's eyes narrowing as he did so. _'That wasn't Kage-Bunshin, he's somehow warped space and time to create copies of himself… seriously, who the hell is this man!'_ She inwardly demanded even while evading and twisting around the many attacks of the multiple clones of the strange Mysterious Figure. Soon growling, she put one hand on the ground and jumped into a spin kick, sending them all flying away.

However she was surprised when none of the clones vanished, meaning unlike Kage-Bunshin, these clones were not only solid, but had to be defeated individually as a real person. _'Holy crap, that kind of technique would be invaluable on any kind of mission! But still… he controls and warps time in individual areas as if it were simple to do, managing to warp time enough to create clones in mid-battle has to be a strain, or at least should be… hell, not even Minato could do this with any of his own Space-Time-Ninjutsu!'_ The woman thought to herself while The Mysterious Figure and his four copies lunged at her, each one forming a different weapon with their blades.

'_Oh yeah, and then there's that weapon of his, did he make it or something? And how did he make it able to take on different forms?'_ The Busty blond wondered to herself while evading a dagger from one of The Mysterious Figures and grabbing the cable from it, then smirking as she used it to slam the clone into the others, finally causing most of the clones to vanish and only leaving two of them left. _"Most impressive, what they say about Other's is indeed true, you are indeed very powerful."_ The Mysterious Figure noted and the woman raised a brow at the mention of "Other's", wondering what the black-cloaked man meant by that line.

"_However, I feel I need to gauge your abilities at their peak, which sadly, you have long since passed."_ The Mysterious Figure decided with a nod of his head and the woman growled low in her throat.

"Was that a shot at my age!" She demanded indignantly while Shizune let out a groan as she tended to the wounded Riku. Said silver haired youth looking towards the fight with surprise as the blond woman seemed to be doing much better then he had in his own fight against the strange Mysterious Figure.

"Lady-Tsunade…" She mumbled with a shake of her head while Riku looked at the woman with wide eyes. _'Note to self, never piss her off…'_ He thought to himself while The Mysterious Figure merely shook his head at the hostilities that the blond haired woman was giving off.

"_Be at peace milady. I meant no disrespect I am merely stating a fact. Your body as it stands is well beyond its prime, my time-distortion-blades could even kill you just by speeding up your heart if I were to fight you at this point in time. What I want is to fight an Other, since I cannot reach the Realm of Darkness myself due to no small amount of interference from a truly pesky Soulless. Thus I will, for the moment, settle for fighting the stragglers here in the worlds of Light. Currently, you are the most powerful I have encountered, thus my problem with your current age."_ The Mysterious Figure stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Tsunade scowling towards him with a growl.

"Oh well sorry, but some of us can't turn time backwards at will!" The blond woman shouted at The Mysterious Figure and he nodded his head before looking to his sole remaining clone. The clone nodded as it got up into a crouch and The Mysterious Figure crossed his arms over his chest.

"_This is true and yet it is also easily rectified as well."_ The Mysterious Figure stated while his clone vanished and then wrapped its arms around Tsunade from behind.

"Hey what the hell are you…!" She started to demanded before shaking, her eyes suddenly widening, as a strange clock like fixture appeared and then circled around them.

"Lady-Tsunade!" Shizune cried as her mentor shook rapidly, the hands of the strange clock-like fixture turning forward rapidly. "What are you doing to her!" She then demanded of The Mysterious Figure and he chuckled lightly before looking to where Tsunade was standing.

"_What I am doing is turning back times hands and freeing the woman from their grasp. She is most skilled and powerful, even with her advanced age to hamper her skills and abilities, I wish to test myself against her in her prime, if her abilities now are of any indication, she was far more powerful in her youth!"_ The Mysterious Figure replied with a wave of his hand, acting as if what he was doing was, yet again, the simplest thing in the world. Meanwhile Shizune gaped towards him before looking to Tsunade and watched as the clock's hands started to slowly turn backwards, the clone of The Mysterious Figure shaking as they did so. Slowly Shizune watched as the clone started to shrink and shrivel while Tsunade's eyes seemed to brighten.

Soon enough the clock-face vanished completely, while an empty black-cloak fell to the ground while Tsunade continued to shake. Slowly taking a breath the blond haired woman then steadied herself before falling to her knees. Blinking in shock she then reached up and made a seal before shouting KAI loudly, her form disappearing in a plume of smoke. As it vanished it revealed her being identical to before, where she reached up to her face, then her chest, then her sides, her hips, ass, and finally her legs before a sudden evil grin crossed her lips. "Ha! I knew my Genjutsu was an exact replica! Take that Jiraiya! Nothing's was exaggerated _**or**_ enhanced!" The woman then shouted to the heavens before blinking and glaring at The Mysterious Figure dangerously.

"Now then, why the hell would you regress me back to my prime!" Tsunade demanded while climbing back to her feet and then had another thought. "And for that matter, how come my memories are all intact?" She also demanded and The Mysterious Figure chuckled lightly before stretching out his limbs.

"_As I said before, I have always wished to do battle with an Other, however when I attempted to do so Twelve years ago, an annoying Soulless with similar abilities to my own prevented me from doing so. Thus I was forced to contend with beings of the Realm of Light, Somebodies. Thus, finding an Other in this world is truly a boon for my research, however your advanced age hampered your abilities, I wish to know the full strength of an Other. As for your memories, extracting them is fairly easy, in fact, if given the time and motivation, even a mouse could learn to extract and preserve memories. Adding your experience to a youthful body means a much more even fight between the two of us."_ The Mysterious Figure explained to her, once again sounding like it was the simplest thing in the world, before having a sudden thought.

"_In fact, perhaps I should teach a mouse to do so, it would be amusing if nothing else… Yes, I will teach a mouse how to extract memories and then release it on a world to amuse myself. For me, it should only take a few minutes to do so… though admittedly that is more like several years in actual time."_ He suddenly added with a quick nod, making Riku, Shizune, and Tsunade instantly believe the man was somewhat insane, or perhaps just really, _**really**_ bored.

"Uh yeah, that's great and all, oh and thanks for the age reduction, I had a pain in my lower back before but now it's totally gone!" Tsunade noted while stretching and bending in ways she hadn't since her younger years, a sudden thought coming to mind. "Just how much younger am I exactly?" She asked him with a suspicious tone and The Mysterious Figure tilted his head before sighing.

"_Your body was regressed based on how old my clone was, thus how old I am… but I would surmise you are somewhere in your mid-to-late twenties at the least."_ The Mysterious Figure replied and a strange look crossed Tsunade's face before a small smile actually crossed her features.

"Okay thanks then." The woman stated before cracking her knuckles and taking on a noticeably devilish expression. "Still, even though you were nice enough to make me younger, I'm still going to pound you into dust…" Tsunade stated and The Mysterious Figure merely chuckled once more before twisting into a stance across from the revitalized Kage.

"_You are welcome to try…"_ He replied boldly and Tsunade suddenly grinned before kicking her leg into the ground with her monster strength, launching herself at The Mysterious Figure with incredible speed, before slamming her fist into his face and sending him flying back before impacting with a bolder and causing it to crumble… _'Perhaps I should not have said that… it would seem I have underestimated exactly how strong she was in her prime, regardless, this should be most enlightening if nothing else.'_ The Mysterious Figure thought to himself as he picked himself up and looked to a still grinning Tsunade…

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

Sir Integra frowned as she glared at her two best agents; each one had a grin on their face as they gave her a strange look. She was used to this from Alucard; however, when Agent Umbra, AKA Uzumaki Naruto, did the same she was more than a little concerned for the blond. The fact his ears were pointed and his eyes had turned a golden-amber color didn't help much either. "Now then, care to explain to me why you two were trying to kill each-other?" Integra demanded while Naruto reached up and rubbed his left shoulder, a massive bullet hole from Alucard slowly sealing shut.

"I was bored and felt like it…" Naruto replied simply, Alucard chuckling as a large tear that started from his right shoulder and went all the way to his left hip was also sealing shut on him as well… _'Note to self, never let them spar or train with one another ever again…'_ Sir-Integra decided while reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose and then glared at her two agents angrily.

"Now listen here you two, besides you Naruto, myself, and Walter, we only have eight total members of our organization still among the living…" Sir-Integra started to say and Naruto's amused look was instantly wiped off at the news of such taking heavy losses on their side. "Your group is not included among them, but those who are among those eight are only alive because they were on leave. Alucard and Seras don't count because they clearly are not among the living." Sir-Integra stated flatly and Naruto felt his mouth drop open and gaped at the woman in shock.

"So… every human member of the organization who was here is… dead?" He asked and the woman merely nodded her head with a frown while Naruto's eyes finally returned to normal, a frown working its way across his face as they did. "I see… but how are Alice, Xion, Kitten and the others, if I might ask?" Naruto questioned and Sir-Integra sighed while placing the end of a cigar into her mouth and lit the other end, taking a few quick puffs mostly to relax herself she then gave the blond a look.

"Axel and Larxene are still Nobodies, thus not technically alive as they have no hearts to speak of. However they are fine, none of the Invading Ghouls managed to bite either of them and they were more than fast enough to destroy them in mass. Tira, whom we believe to be some form of mutant as she is not a Nobody, but like Larxene and Axel she also does not have a heart for some reason, though she is physically fine. However her mental state is still as deranged as ever, thus I wouldn't classify her as fine unless you believe the insane to be so." Sir-Integra stated, while also deliberately saving the two he was most worried about for last.

"Now as for Alice, she too is fine, her surprising and vast array of toys… which also intrigue me to no end… were more than adequate to deal with the Ghouls coming at her. The only thing to worry about is that she seemed to be enjoying it a bit too much to be normal." Sir-Integra finally explained and watched a frown cross Naruto's features before she blew out some smoke. "Now as for Xion, she seemed to have… well… she went into something like a Berserker state. From what the others told me, "Dark-Armor" like your own formed on her and she started to literally tear her enemies apart." Sir-Integra finished while gazing at Naruto passively, Alucard merely amusing himself with memories of his battle with the blond… it'd been a while since someone had literally started beating him with his own severed arm…

"Now as for Seras or "Kitten" as you call her, she is also fine, however went into a temporary state of insanity, or perhaps a "Berserker" State of sorts… speaking of which, Alucard, were you aware of the possibility of that happening?" Integra questioned of the dark haired Vampire, an amused grin crossing his features.

"Ah yes that… it is rather common for young Vampires to develop that, it is mostly a survival instinct, though can also be triggered by an intense emotional state such as Anger. You see, when she is put into a situation that could lead to her untimely demise her latent Vamparic abilities will rise to the forefront and push her humanity aside until she is either out of danger, or as the case may be, she is stuck with a holy relic, such as Father Anderson's Bayonets." The dark haired Vampire explained and a deep frown crossed Integra's face while Naruto blinked.

"Weird… I have the same damn problem with my powers over Darkness…" Naruto noted aloud and Sir-Integra took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, and then gave a look to the two before her.

"Alucard. Agent Umbra. Did either of you ever think to warn me of such an event possibly occurring? I can't have a pair of uncontrollable agents constantly being put into situations where this loss of sanity may repeatedly occur. Or worse yet, where civilians or god-forbid our other soldiers be attacked in said insane rage." Sir-Integra stated flatly and Alucard mentally rolled his eyes before crossing his arms behind his back.

"Worry not, Police-Girl's more… violent side… only comes out like it does, because she continues to refuse to drink blood and grow stronger. If and when she decides to drink blood, the likelihood of her going berserk will be drastically reduced." Alucard explained to the platinum blond and Sir-Integra frowned while lacing her fingers together and closing her eyes.

"I see… and what about you, Agent Umbra? Is there a similar way to curb your more psychotic side?" She asked with a brow arched upwards and the blond haired Seeker clicked his tongue while humming in thought.

"The only thing I can think of would be to completely stop using my powers of Darkness so my body won't hold too much at a time… but then again, that might just make the Psychotic Episodes even more violent, as I'd basically just be storing more and more Darkness inside of me… I could also try and control myself, or at least my emotions, that would give me greater control of my powers, and limit the possibility of me entering into another berserker state." Naruto replied and then crossed his arms over his chest while drumming his fingers on his biceps.

"Unfortunately… I've never tried to control my emotions so I don't actually know how effective doing that might be. Not only that but I'd also have to get Xion to do so as well or she'd continue to enter a Berserker State whenever she got too emotional as well." Naruto mused mostly to himself while Sir-Integra mentally frowned, seeing as it had taken her years to fully control her own emotions, and even then she still has quite a temper problem…

"I see… very-well, figure out what you can do to fix this. Dismissed." Sir-Integra stated and Naruto nodded while walking out of her office, Alucard giving a simple bow before vanishing into the shadows. Letting out a breath, Sir-Integra then rubbed her temples, wondering why all her best agents were such handfuls…

(Destiny Islands…)

Tidus flew back with a grunt while Waka was mercilessly thrown to the side, back impacting with the miniature island where the poapu tree resided. Shaking his head for a moment, Tidus looked up and watched as Selphy was lifted by her throat, the demonic Dark Armored creature chuckling sinisterly as she tried to pry his hand from her neck. **"Ha ha ha ha ha! I had almost forgotten the sheer pleasure of crushing insignificant bugs like you with naught but my own hands!"** Kyuubi declared while Tidus struggled to get to his feet, panting and leaning against his sword as he glared towards the ebony / crimson armored fiend.

Turning towards the blond he was soundly beating, Kyuubi then tossed Selphy away as if she weighed absolutely nothing. The girl bounced off of the ground before rolling away and coming to a halt with a light groan of pain. Chuckling once more, Kyuubi formed Kitsune-Soul and leaned it into one shoulder before looking at Tidus as he struggled to stand up. **"What's the matter you worthless little runt, you going to cry or something?"** Kyuubi mocked and saw the blond haired youth twitch violently before snarling at him furiously.

"Shut up!" He roared out while lunging into a double kick to Kyuubi's chest and then flipped back while throwing three spheres of energy from his hand into Kyuubi, the spheres of light exploding and sending the Kitsune flying back. Flipping in the air and landing in a low crouch afterwards, The Kyuubi looked towards the blond haired kid with renewed interest. _**'My mocking seemed to hit a sensitive nerve… oh this is looking like it'll be more fun than I originally believed.'**_ Kyuubi noted to himself while the blond had a furious look on his face and gripped one fist tightly.

"There's no way I'm not going down without a fight, so c'mon!" He declared while lunging forward and moving into several forward flips before swinging his Sword down at The Kyuubi. Chuckling lightly, Kyuubi blocked the attack with his Keyblade and then punched Tidus in the jaw, knocking him into the air before Kyuubi grabbed his foot and brought him down into the ground with a crash.

"**Learn to reign in that temper runt, it'll only get you in trouble with those better than you!"** Kyuubi mocked and Tidu kicked his hand from his leg before twisting into a spin, soon coming out on one hand where he jumped up high into the air. _**'Impressive, at least he knows how to take a punch…'**_ The Kyuubi mused to himself while Tidus brought his sword up and then lunged down towards him swinging his blade at him violently. Smirking beneath his helmet, The Kyuubi evaded the swings of his weapon for a time before catching the blade with one hand and watching as Tidus's eyes widened greatly.

Chuckling once more, Kyuubi slammed a fist into Tidus's face knocking him back where he then skipped along the water of the ocean before seeming to sink into the depths like a stone. However he soon came out of the water with what looked to be Waka's Blitz-Ball and Kyuubi grunted. _**'Pesky little runt needs to learn how to stay down and die!'**_ Kyuubi decided before the blond tossed the ball into the air then seemed to flip into the air and kick it down at him. Confused by the action, Kyuubi didn't expect the ball to suddenly impact with his chest and actually manage to push him back a ways, his teeth gritting as he then knocked it away with a grunt.

Tidus landed on the water at that moment and wasted no time in making his way back to Kyuubi. The Demonic Seeker growling as he moved and twisted around in a random pattern to confuse him before finally swinging his blade at him wildly. Dodging and weaving around the swings, The Kyuubi then growled as the blond came at him from the side, only to receive a powerful backhanded strike from the Demonic-Seeker, yet again the blond haired youth was thrown skidding back, soon coming out in a roll while The Kyuubi chuckled with a shake of his head.

"**Don't you understand anything runt? You can't possibly defeat me, I'm stronger than you could ever hope to become!"** The Kyuubi boasted and Tidus growled while getting up yet again, stumbling for only a moment before narrowing his eyes onto the beast. _'He's… he's just like that bastard… always putting me down… calling me weak… I'll show him… I'll show both of them!'_ Tidus inwardly declared while crouching down and then lunging forward as quickly as his body would allow. Once more, The Kyuubi laughed and grabbed Tidus by the throat, causing the blond to gasp in a mix of pain and shock when The Kyuubi lifted him up before slamming him back first into the ground.

"**Such a pathetic little Runt, you're not even worth my time!"** The Kyuubi growled before hearing the fire-steed whinny loudly from the side where a Dark-Corridor was opening up. **"What… do we have to leave now?"** Kyuubi questioned while looking to the steed and saw it nod its head, causing him to growl angrily. He wasn't exactly through mopping the floor with the blond haired runt, his two friends he couldn't care less about, as both were clearly down and out for the count after their first few beatings at his decidedly violent style of combat.

'_**But this one… he just keeps getting back up, just like that Gaki Naruto!'**_ The Kyuubi thought to himself with an internal growl before gripping Tidus's throat even more tightly, the fire-steed whinnying once more as he did. Clenching his jaw, Kyuubi tossed Tidus away and then dismissed his Keyblade while glaring at the Steed. **"Consider yourselves very lucky, you'll get to see another day as it seems my new "Master" wishes me to move on."** Kyuubi grumbled as he made his way to his stead, Tidus using his sword as leverage to climb back up to his feet.

"W-Where the hell do you think your going?" The blond demanded and the demon had to resist grinning as he turned to see Tidus actually getting back up. _**'Sweet Kami he's too like the Gaki to be normal! Oh if I only had a choice I'd stay here for a while and rip you limb from limb! Damn Chernabog and damn that blasted Gaki Naruto for dumping me where that freak could find me!'**_ The Kyuubi inwardly raged before scoffing as Tidus panted heavily, it being clear to him that he wouldn't pose as much of a fight at this point.

"**Sadly, while I would utterly enjoy dismembering you Runt, I am currently on a mission to find someone… so I'm afraid you'll just have to wait for me to return to rip you apart."** The Kyuubi responded while hopping onto his steeds back and then allowed the beast to fly forwards and into the Dark-Corridor, Tidus growling as he lunged forward, casting a Haste Spell on himself as he did.

"Oh no you don't!" The Blond gritted out as he jumped into the Corridor behind The Kyuubi, Waka grunting as he disappeared.

"T-Tidus… no…" He managed to get out before finally passing out completely, darkness completely claiming his vision as unconsciousness took him…

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

Alice sits in the office of Sir-Integral Fairbrook Wingates Van-Helsing, however her eyes look almost glassed over. She had come to see about visiting London, if for nothing else then to see the town she'd visited on occasion before. Blinking her glassy emerald green eyes, Alice takes a glance around herself and feels her eyes slowly begin to widen. Hanging from the ceiling are numerous bloody arms, the blood dripping off of them and staining the carpet. The color is close to the shade of a "Ghoul" making Alice shake slightly before bringing her hands up to her mouth. _**"Alice…"**_ A voice whispered crisply, a familiar voice yet for the life of her she couldn't seem to place its owner.

She wretched for a moment before blood began to spill from between her fingers, falling down onto her lap. Soon she moved her hands completely, blood flowing from every crevice and corner in her mouth to spill out over her chest, teeth soon following the blood and making her start to hyperventilate. _**"Alice…"**_ The calm voice came once more while the said girl widened her eyes and slowly looked around, before turning towards where Sir-Integra had been only a moment ago. However she saw something else instead, an emaciated grey cat with a wide inhuman grin stretched across its face.

"_**Are you alright?"**_ The cat questioned of the girl while her eyes widened in shock, wondering just how the Cheshire-Cat had arrived on this world. However before she could contemplate further, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she felt herself drift back into Darkness…

"Alice?" The voice of Sir-Integra suddenly came sharply, Alice blinking her bright emerald orbs open before staring at the woman. "I asked if you're alright…" Sir-Integra stated with a raised brow and Alice slowly nodded her head before fiddling with her fingers. Letting out a slight sigh, Sir-Integra laced her fingers together, a cigar between her lips as per usual. "Now Miss Alice, while I cannot exactly say that it's an unreasonable request… might I enquire as to why you wish to venture out into London?" Sir-Integra questioned with an arched brow, more than a little concerned for the girl given she was not only institutionalized once, but also from the Victorian Age…

"Well, I just thought go out and find a bit of familiar scenery is all." Alice replied while fiddling with her hands in her lap, Sir-Integra mentally grimacing at the thought. _'I'm no psychiatrist but I somehow doubt letting a girl, who's literally lived solely in her imagination for years, go out into normal society is a good idea…'_ Sir-Integra thought to herself, while imagining Alice might even relapse if she saw something too familiar to her past. Sir-Integra could scarcely imagine what might happen should she somehow managed to find one of the old Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or even Through The Looking Glass books…

"Are you certain that is such a good idea? Certainly you and your companions will be leaving soon. With the Soulless General gone I find it unlikely Naruto will remain On-World for much longer." Sir-Integra noted and Alice nodded her head while folding her hands in her lap and let out a breath of air.

"That is exactly why I wish to go out… I don't know where I'll end up next; this might very well be my last chance to see London again. Even if it is vastly different to the one I knew, I'm sure to find at least a few buildings are the same." Alice replied and Sir-Integra felt more worried that there wouldn't be enough changed for the girl, though admittedly that was unlikely. Not only was she from a different time period, but she was also from a radically different world to her own.

"Well… I suppose if Naruto goes along with you I can allow it… however I suggest new attire. Your current state of dress is as far from normal or everyday wear as it comes." Sir-Integra stated while giving a look to the Dark-Auburn haired girl and she nodded her head, happily willing to change her clothes if it meant she could get out of the mansion, even if it was only for a short while. Sighing for a moment, Sir-Integra then stood up and walked passed Alice, silently motioning for her to follow. Doing so, Alice followed the woman out of her office and then made their way upstairs where they soon came to the Master Bedroom.

"I believe some of my old clothes might fit you… though you are rather skinny." Sir-Integra noted while Alice looked down at her body, and she inwardly admitted she had a very thin frame compared to the older woman… and compared to Seras… hell she was even skinny when compared to Larxene and Xion! _'I really must eat more, its not healthy to be so thin.'_ Alice mentally decided while looking at herself then blinked when she saw Sir-Integra pull out an old chest and let out a breath.

"Excuse me, Miss-Integra…" Alice started and Sir-Integra wasn't sure if she was happy or annoyed that the girl refused to call her Dame or Sir Integra. "But wouldn't it be much easier to have Mister-Walter or Alucard to move that?" Alice asked with her head tilted to one side and Sir-Integra rolled her eyes while crossing her arms over her chest.

"Perhaps it would, but I'm fully capable of taking care of myself. Besides that, Walter has more important work to do than push around an old trunk for me." Sir-Integra replied with a crisp tone and Alice blinked before nodding her head nervously.

"Oh, I see." The girl said while rolling on her heels and Sir-Integra wondered if it was normal for the girl to be so timid, or if it was just a result of not being in Wonderland. Wonderland was her imagination and mind after all, thus she was a Perfect representation of herself while there. She would be bold, confident, and beautiful, fully capable of defending herself physically and mentally from what she had heard. This was clearly in stark contrast to the girl in reality, where she was more than a little timid and even seemed afraid of her own shadow.

Shaking her head of those thoughts, Sir-Integra opened the old trunk and started to sift through her old clothing. As she did she also thought back to the other Shadowed-Princess that Naruto told her about and felt her jaw clench in rage. A little girl, Alessa, tormented to the point of madness, burned alive by her own mother, whose own rage had twisted her hometown into a shadow of its former self by dragging it further towards the Darkness… Sir-Integra then stopped what she was doing for a second and narrowed her eyes when she realized something. Each Shadowed Princess, or at least Alice and Alessa, displayed a remarkable proficiency with their mind, each able to create their own world.

Was that by chance? Or perhaps more damning, was that an ability of all the Shadowed Princesses, and she had yet to learn how to do so… _'What kind of world would I create with that ability?'_ Sir-Integra wondered to herself as she found an old black and white striped shirt, it was small, had been when a relative got it for her, but she hadn't had the heart to throw it out. Placing it to the side, Sir-Integra then looked around and found a simple black skirt and old black-stockings / mary-janes. Nodding her head, the platinum blond then got up, closed the trunk and handed the clothes over to Alice.

"Here you are Alice, these should be at least fashionable enough for no one to notice you." Sir-Integra offered with a slightly amused smirk, as her old clothes were also somewhat out of date, though clearly not to the extent of Alice's usual ensemble. Blinking as the woman handed her the clothes and shoes, Alice smiled pleasantly before giving her a curt bow.

"Thank you Miss-Integra, now may I please inquire as to where I may change?" Alice asked and Sir-Integra pointed over to where a Bathroom was at the side, Alice once again giving a slight bow before walking over to the bathroom and entering.

"It's so nice to have someone with manners around here again." Sir-Integra noted with a sly smirk across her lips before letting out a breath and closing her old trunk…

(Realm of Darkness…)

A man walked through the shadows, his dark cloak concealing the majority of his form, a simple straw hat with tassels and bells covering the rest. Striding forward silently, the man soon came to a stop as he passed the amused form of Sephiroth. "Another pitiful soul lost in the Darkness…" The silver haired man noted with a slight smirk, then turned and looked at the newcomer with an arched brow. "So, do you have a name?" He questioned and rather than answer, the man reached up, showing hands with purple nail-polish and a ring on one finger as he removed his hat and allowed it to fall to the ground, turning only so his crimson red Sharingan Eyes can gaze into Sephiroth's slitted ones.

"My name is of no importance to you…" The dark haired man stated simply while a slight smirk worked its way across Sephiroth's lips once more.

"We shall see… in fact, show me, your strength." Sephiroth ordered while taking a swing at the man with his sword, only to watch as he suddenly burst into a mass of feathers. "Impressive." Sephiroth decided with a slight smirk when he felt a Kunai being held to his throat from behind.

"Cease this pointless attack, you are not the one I wish to fight." The man ordered flatly, his back to Sephiroth's, his arm held back enough to hold the blade of his Kunai to the silver haired man's throat.

"Now, why would I go and do that? When the fun has only just started." Sephiroth questioned and the man made a "Hnn" sound even as Sephiroth twisted into a spin while swinging his blade once more. However this time a smirk crossed the lips of the man even as the blade came into his side.

"**Bunshin-Daibakuha. (Clone-Great-Explosion.)"** He uttered simply and a massive explosion sounded out, shaking the few patches of land within the Realm-of-Darkness. Yet again, the dark haired individual reappeared in a burst of Raven-feathers, and then narrowed his eyes when he saw that Sephiroth standing unscathed from the explosion, not even a bit of soot or scorch marks marring his visage. Brushing off his arms for a moment, Sephiroth then turned around to face the man and pointed his sword towards him.

"You show great skill, but no drive to use it. Why have all that power and skill, if you have no drive to use it?" The silver haired man noted with a shake of his head and his opponent mutely held his left hand in a half ram seal.

"**Amaterasu. (She-Who-Shines-In-The-Heaven.)"** He uttered sinisterly while opening his eyes, which showed an almost Shuriken pattern within their depths. Instantly a burst of black flames flowed towards the Silver-Haired man, only for him to vanish in a burst of energy and black feathers, near identically to what his opponent had done earlier.

"As I said, impressive." Sephiroth noted and the man turned around while swinging his Kunai in a single fluid motion. Flipping back to evade, Sephiroth was surprised when an arc of energy flew from the Kunai and nearly sliced him in half. Flipping over it in midair, the silver-haired warrior soon landed on the ground while the arc of raw power that cleanly cut an enormous pillar of stone in half behind him that was nearly the size of a mountain.

"You should talk less, or you'll start to grate on my nerves." The man stated in a monotone voice, Sephiroth mutely turning and then smirking once more.

"Another impressive attack, but its not one I haven't seen before…" Sephiroth stated before swinging his own blade, an arc of energy flowing from the length of his blade directly towards the man. Silently awaiting it, the man then swung his Kunai in an upwards swing and instantly tearing a chunk of energy out of the arc of energy.

"Not exactly. Your attack can clearly be blocked, whereas the attack I learned by watching Samurai… cannot." The man stated coldly once more and Sephiroth raised a brow for a moment before lifting his blade and holding it in a familiar stance.

"I see… well then, it would appear that I should take you more seriously than I originally believed." Sephiroth noted while lunging forward and quickly swung his sword, only for the man to place a hand on his shoulder and flip out of the way. Turning around Sephiroth swung Masamune once more, and then watched as the dark haired man jumped over his swung and turned around. Bringing his hand up in another half-ram the man then took a slight breath.

"**Kataon: Gokakyu no Jutsu… (Fire-Release: Great Fireball Technique…)"** The man stated before breathing out an enormous fireball towards Sephiroth, the man mutely smirking before wrapping his single wing around his body. As the flames consumed Sephiroth, completely obstructing his form from view, the man closed his eyes and frowned as he heard Sephiroth plop back onto the ground.

"Again, impressive, but allow me to show you something more." Sephiroth uttered as he jumped into the air and brought down several rocks that spun outwards towards the man. Opening his eyes and gazing up at Sephiroth silently, the man didn't even bother to move as the rocks threw him back. Looking up, he then watched as the rocks vanished and Sephiroth formed an enormous ball of energy above him. "Fall into the shadows." Sephiroth uttered darkly as he threw the enormous sphere down towards the man, a lazy smirk crossing his features even as the orb suddenly slammed into him. Landing on the ground a second later, Sephiroth chuckled lightly and turned to see the man was now standing behind him, completely unharmed.

"Again, I believe you should talk less." The man stated simply and then took a breath through his nose and walked passed Sephiroth. "However, I do not have time for anymore distractions… nor will I indulge you any longer in this trivial battle." The man stated while walking away and a slight smirk managed to cross Sephiroth's features as he gazed at the back of the man.

"A body of Darkness with a heart of light… seeking to regain that which it has lost… how pathetic." He stated and the man came to a complete halt before turning to give him a slight glare. Smirking once more, Sephiroth closed his eyes and began to walk away as well, looking back at him only once. "Stray too close to the brightness, and you'll get scorched." The man warned before vanishing, a burst of energy and feathers flowing in the spot he'd been only a moment before. Closing his eyes after Sephiroth was gone, the dark haired man silently shook his head.

"Perhaps… or perhaps you merely fear to stray into the light yourself." The man whispered while walking deeper into the Darkness, what he was seeking unknown to all but himself… and that was how Uchiha Itachi wanted it to stay.

(Land of Shadows and Death…)

Alice slowly walks through the streets of London, a slight bit of familiarity with the city visible in her eyes as she notices some old buildings. She and Naruto had been in town together, but she'd decided to wander off without him in an attempt to see some of the London she had known. Shaking that off, the dark-auburn haired girl clutches the red Coat Seras let her borrow closer to herself for warmth. A fog had rolled in only a few moments after she had decided she wanted to go out into town, the plain black skirt, black stockings, and old fashioned mary-janes, and black / white striped shirt she borrowed from the two women in Hellsing more to blend in than anything.

This was because while she liked her blue dress, it was clear to her that it was more than just a little out of style, especially since she was almost seventeen… and standards were different in this time frame. However as she continued walking the streets, Alice briefly wished she had her Vorpal-Blade with her, mostly because she was afraid of admitting that she was frightened to be alone, and the weapon gave her no small amount of confidence in herself. Shaking her head, the girl brought her hands to her biceps and walked right passed a grand looking fountain, and nearly ignoring a shop called Rabbit's Clock Repairs.

However she stopped just long enough to look at the sign of the shop, a white rabbit dressed in a red jacket with a yellow waistcoat, a pocket watch held in one hand while looking down at it. Blinking for a moment, the girl suddenly shivered and brought her collar up to warm her neck, the strange cold from the fog surprising her greatly. _'Why have I not been myself today? And if I'm not myself, who am I?'_ She suddenly wondered before her eyes went wide upon remembering she asked that when she first entered Wonderland oh so many years before.

Shaking that off, the Dark-Auburn haired maiden continued down the street, moving at a quickly pace and rubbing her arms up and down for warmth. As she let out a breath she was surprised to see a bit of vapor form from her lips and blinked owlishly. _'Why is it so very cold today?'_ She wondered to herself while looking around and then stopped suddenly and looked to an old Puppet Theater where a light was still on. Alice knew it was late, she knew she should look for Naruto and go back to the mansion, but… biting her lip, the girl walked forward, slowing down as she approached the old theater.

Walking over to it and placing a hand on the ledge before it, the emerald eyed young woman looked inside to see three puppets. The puppets were stationed around a tiny table, complete with a tablecloth, a teapot in the center and three teacups positioned before the puppets, each of the puppets seemingly sitting on a grand looking chair. The background of the scene was some sort of forest with odd flowers all around it, giving it an intimately familiar view to the dark-auburn haired young woman. The puppets themselves were fashioned into a hare on the right, a large mouse on the left, and between them and behind the table sat a crazed looking man with a large top-hat…

A faint smile touched at the corners of Alice's lips upon viewing the familiar scene of her old friends. Mad-Hatter, Dormouse, and March Hare… How she wished she could share a cup of tea with them again, if for nothing else then to calm her ever rattled nerves as of late. She had believed traveling with Naruto would be… less dangerous… honestly, with how the blond acted that should've been true, yet it seemed he was far more capable than she ever gave him credit for, and easily shrugged off any obstacle or challenge that was thrown at him.

'_Not at all like me… I couldn't even deal with Rutledge…'_ Alice thought to herself while letting out a soft sigh, looking down from the view in the theater for only a moment. _"Alice…"_ A familiar voice called and Alice froze, then slowly looked up and her emerald eyes slowly widened when she saw a reflection of two pale blue glowing figures in the window of the small theater. "Mother?" Alice questioned while quickly turning around, only to see nothing was there anymore. Feeling saddened that it was an illusion her mind had used to trick her, Alice let out a slight sigh when another, even more sinister voice spoke up…

"_**Alice…"**_ This time the voice was not from a beloved family member, nor even a trusted friend from Wonderland. This time, the voice was a low hiss of its former self, this time a greater menace echoed out from the voice. And upon hearing a shattering of glass, Alice slowly turned and gasped in horror as she saw flames devour the puppets of her friends, a silhouette of The Queen of Hearts and White-Rabbit within the flames. Backing up for a moment, she then screamed as two tentacles came out of the puppet theater, quickly wrapped around her form and dragged her kicking and screaming into an inferno of flames.

Struggling with the tentacles, Alice latched onto the windowsill of the old Puppet-Theater in an attempt to keep from being dragged even further into the flames. All rational thought and reason left her as she struggled vainly against the tentacles of her most hated enemy. One of them quickly wrapped around her head however, before pulling her deeper still, into an abyss of never-ending fire… _"Alice…"_ Another voice echoed out as Alice looked around at the flames and then cowered as a massive creature hovered over her, a pair of bright yellow eyes glaring at her furiously… _**"What have you done?"**_

"Alice!" The girl heard and opened her eyes, blinking momentarily before looking up into the concerned blue eyes of Naruto. "Alice, what happened? Are you alright?" Naruto questioned with his hands on her shoulders, and then blinked as the girl suddenly buried herself in his chest and began to sob uncontrollably. Looking at her with a confused expression for a moment, Naruto then placed his arms around the girl before looking off to the side. "C'mon, lets get you out of the cold." Naruto states kindly and Alice slowly nods her head, both of them walking away from the Puppet theater, neither one looking back…

Had they stayed they would see a familiar shadow walk across the base of the strange little theater. The shadow had a tail, its body emaciated, and a single large hoop earring in its left ear. The Shadow came to a stop, sitting at the base of the small theater and a pair of familiar eyes opened up, while a wide, inhuman grin stretched out under the eyes while gazing towards the retreating figures. **"When the remarkable becomes bizarre, reason turns rancid."** The voice of The Cheshire Cat echoes out, only a few moments before the shadow of the cat fades completely away from view…

As Naruto and Alice continued on, they soon came to the mansion, the blond leading the young Princess of Shadowed Hearts inside with a frown. _'Something seriously weird is happening to Alice… and I don't like it.'_ The blond couldn't help but think to himself while coming into the foyer of the mansion and saw Axel and the others seemingly waiting for them. "Something up?" He asked and the redhead shrugged his shoulders while Larxene decided to answer for him.

"Well for one thing, we're kind of hoping your ready to move out, I like this world as much as the next chick, but being here isn't exactly tops on my to do lists…" Larxene replied simply and Naruto blinked before slowly nodding his head, understanding where she was coming from.

"I… I should retrieve my normal attire…" Alice mumbled while walking away from the blond and up the stairs to see Sir-Integra. Frowning as he watched her go, Naruto briefly wondered what happened to the bold and confident girl that Alice had been when they first met. _'Or was that all just Wonderland, and this is the real Alice?'_ He then wondered to himself before shaking his head and looking amongst the others who seemed to be looking at him expectantly.

"What?" He asked with a frown and Xion looked to where Alice had been and then to him with clear concern.

"Is she alright?" Xion asked the blond haired teen and Naruto sighed while running a hand through his hair. Crossing his arms and frowning, the teen then considered what he knew about Alice, as well as her mental condition, only to lightly growl in frustration. _'I was never trained to deal with this kind of thing… is Alice loosing her mind again or what?'_ The blond wondered to himself before looking back to Xion with a stern look on his face.

"Honestly, I don't know. Alice in Wonderland was completely confident in herself… here… it's like she has no confidence at all. I thought it was just because she wasn't used to traveling worlds, but I have no idea how Alice acted before she was in Wonderland, or before she went crazy so I don't really know if this is normal or not." The blond haired teen replied with a worried frown and Larxene rolled her eyes.

"Oh just go on and gag me already, forget about Alice for a second. What I want to know is where we're heading off to next." Larxene suddenly snarked and Naruto let out a grunt while Axel gave the woman a flat look.

"You know Larxene, would it kill you to think about someone other than yourself just once?" Axel questioned of the blond haired woman and she merely mocked his voice before snorting and looking back to Naruto.

"Look, I don't know where we'll go, whenever a Natural Dark-Corridor opens it doesn't exactly tell me where it's going." Naruto states and Larxene groaned while leaning back and Axel only briefly wonders why she always acts so dramatic. Then remembers that most Nobodies act like that as they were technically over-exaggerating their original personalities.

"Great… then why don't we just open up our own Dark-Corridors?" The blond woman demanded and Naruto let out a mental sigh before giving her a flat look.

"Because one, you guys have no idea how to open corridors to other Dark-Worlds. Two, the Soulless have no interest in the worlds of Light. Three, even if we did we have no idea where the Soulless would be. And finally, because the natural ones seem to preclude to taking me somewhere my skills are needed." Naruto responded with a deep frown on his face and Larxene muttered something under her breath while Tira popped up next to the blond with a grin.

"I agree with master!" She declared and Larxene smirked while giving the brunette a flat look.

"When don't you agree with him?" She asked the girl flatly and Tira blinked before considering that for a moment and shrugged her shoulders. "I rest my case, you're overly biased!" Larxene stated with a nod of her head and Axel rubbed at his temples before looking to Xion.

"Ya know this makes me wonder if everyone connected to Darkness are stark raving mad…" Axel grumbled, causing Xion to giggle and Naruto to give them both an annoyed look for the crack at his sanity. While he couldn't say anything for pretty much anyone else from the worlds of Darkness, he was sure he was most decidedly not insane!

"Um, am I interrupting anything important?" Alice questioned as she walked down into the foyer, Seras and Integra following behind her.

"Nah, Larxene was just complaining is all." Axel responded while only slightly noticing the lack of the corset Alice had worn before. _'Probably doesn't want to look unusually skinny…'_ The crimson haired man decided while the dark-auburn haired girl smiled weakly.

"Oh I see." She responded while Sir-Integra walked passed her and stopped in front of Naruto with a pointed look.

"I expect you to have some form of control of that "Berserker State" of yours when you return here Agent-Umbra." She stated briskly and Naruto reached up to rub the back of his neck with a nervous grin on his face.

"Uh… yeah. I'll get right on that." He responded just as a Dark-Corridor opened up at the center of the foyer, Sears giving him a look.

"Don't get yourself killed you bloody git." She said teasingly and Naruto blinked before scoffing and grinning towards her.

"I would say the same to you… but you're already dead." Naruto replied and Seras huffed, crossed her arms over her chest with a frown, and muttered something about him under her breath.

"Anyways, till next we meet. I hope you have a safe journey, Agent-Umbra." Sir-Integra stated with a nod towards the blond haired teen and Naruto nodded his head while Axel and Larxene walked into the Dark-Corridor, soon followed by Tira and Alice.

"Ready to head out rookie?" Naruto asked the girl with a smirk and Xion raised a brow before nodding her head to the older Seeker. "Alright then lets go!" Naruto declared with a grin, arms crossed behind his neck as they both walked into the Dark-Corridor, leaving Seras and Sir-Integra alone with one another. Letting out a breath, Seras looked to where the Dark-Corridor had been before crossing her arms with a frown.

"I still say he and his friends are all bloody crazy…" Seras grumbled out mostly to herself and Sir-Integra smirked towards the blond woman with a raised brow.

"Really Police-Girl, and I suppose you and Alucard are any better?" The platinum blond questioned and Seras gave her a look even as she walked back to her office with a smirk. Huffing once her superior was gone, the blond haired woman then marched down into the basement to her room, muttering about everyone having gone crazy…

(Radiant Garden…)

Aqua back flipped out of the way as her Armor lunged at her, swinging its blade while three arcs magical energy flew off its length. Landing in a low crouch, Aqua lunged forward in a spin, knocking the armor back where Mickey then fired a pearl of light from the end of his Keyblade into the armor. The attack slammed into the back of the armor, knocking it into the air. Jumping after it, Aqua lashed out with her Keyblade, only to be met with a quick Barrier Spell from the Suit of Living Armor. Falling back from the barrier, Aqua then grunted as the armor unleashed a burst of magical energy to knock her back.

Flipping in the air and landing in a crouch, Aqua narrowed her eyes on the armor as it went after Mickey. The King of Disney Castle deftly dodged around its Keyblade, using his small size and weight to his advantage before lashing out with a swing to its helmet. _'Mickey has certainly become more skilled since I've been gone.'_ Aqua noted while then turning to her armor as Mickey flipped around and away from it. The armor summoned several floating spheres of light, causing the bluenette to grimace as she knew what that attack was.

The armor soon started to swing its keyblade, knocking the glowing spheres of light towards both herself and Mickey. Taking a quick breath, Aqua ran out of the way as the armor continued its assault. Mickey did the same, even running on the walls before flipping off as the Armor's attack finished and it fell down to the ground. Taking the chance to move, Aqua reared her Keyblade back, coating the weapon in ice as she did before hurling it at the armor. The Keyblade impacted with the armor only a second later, freezing it over and giving Mickey his own opening.

The King of Disney Castle quickly lunged forward and lashed out at the armor, slashing his Keyblade through it repeatedly. The Armor fell forward from the attack before quickly summoning a barrier to block Mickey's next attack. Lunging at Aqua with the Barrier spinning around its body, the armor soon slid to a halt as Aqua rolled out of the way and the bluenette quickly cast a stop spell. The Armor instantly came to a screeching halt while Aqua herself quickly teleported behind it. Swinging her Keyblade into the armor wildly, the girl teleported once more, appearing in front of it and began to swing her Keyblade through the armor again.

Continuing this for three more rotations, Aqua then flipped back as the Stop-Spell wore off and the force of her attack suddenly pelted the armor. The armor staggered back afterwards and Aqua quickly twirled her Keyblade in hand before aiming the end of her weapon at it. Firing off three blasts of fire into the armor, Aqua watched as it was sent flying back and Mickey lunged up into the air before knocking it forward. Twisting in the air, her Armor then launched itself at her, magical energy completely surrounding it as it came at her in a lunge.

Dodging the lunge, Aqua then rolled out of the way as the Armor came at her again and again. Landing in a crouch, the bluenette let out a breath as the Armor lunged at Mickey from behind, still using a Sonic-Blade technique. _'It sure is disorientating to have to fight something with the exact same skills as me.'_ Aqua noted to herself before a sudden thought came to her. _'I wonder if a Mark of Mastery Exam could be held with an apprentice facing his armor, since they have the same skills it'd always be an even match, but would allow the master to watch for Darkness.'_ Aqua thought to herself, while also deciding it might be worth a try if she ever got an Apprentice of her own.

Taking a breath, Aqua lunged at the armor from behind, slamming her Keyblade into the back of its helmet. Moving back afterwards Aqua then narrowed her eyes on the armor before quickly twirling in place. Keeping her keyblade pointed outwards, the bluenette fired dozens of small spheres of light from the tip of her key and into the armor. The armor staggered from the attack, the bluenette continuing to spin and twirl in place before firing off a final pair of spheres at the armor. Moving quickly Aqua and Mickey moved back to back, before they quickly spun around, a trail of sparkling light following their blades as they lashed out with one final attack to the armor, knocking it into the air where it then fell to the ground and fell apart upon impact.

"Well, looks like that's that." Mickey noted with a quick exhale while Aqua looked at him for a moment, then walked over to her armor. Kneeling down she watched it shake for a moment before a sphere of light escaped from it and hovered in the air before her. "What is that?" Mickey questioned while Aqua held out a hand, the sphere of light flowing over to her before hovering over her palm. Closing her eyes, the young woman then felt as her mind was pulled into the sphere, and images began to pass before her eyes…

_Opening her eyes, Aqua suddenly found herself in a strange place, looking all around she could see only light as far as and even beyond the horizon. _'Where am I?'_ She wondered to herself while looking out into the distance, sighing for only a moment, the young woman then started to walk forward. Traversing the seemingly endless expanse of white for only the divine knew how long, the girl soon found herself walking towards someone, the person sitting down, his legs crossed beneath him. "Hello?" She questioned of the person as she approached, only to stop as he / she slowly pushed themselves up._

"_Hey…" He answered simply, his voice instantly causing Aqua's to take a better look at him, thus widened her eyes upon finally noticing that he was a teen with spiky blond hair…_

"_V-Ven?" She questioned softly and the youth turned to face her with a raised brow before letting out a slight breath._

"_Well I guess that sounds better than "Roxas"… but no, my name is Naruto." He noted aloud while Aqua shook her head, only to continue to look at the blond in shock. "Now then, for my own questions. Who are you? Where are we? And what are you doing here?" Naruto questioned while looking at the bluenette with an arched brow, Aqua merely blinking before responding._

"_My… my name is Aqua. But I don't know exactly where we are, or how I got here. And I'm sorry I called you Ven, but you look just like a friend of mine." She responded and saw a look cross the blond haired youth's features before he shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose._

"_Aqua, huh…" He mumbled to himself before closing his eyes, while feeling a sudden warmth forming in the center of his chest. "Say, have we ever… I don't know, maybe met before?" The blond haired teen asked the bluenette, but before she could respond light suddenly wrapped around her, and Darkness flowed up around the blond. "Well… looks like this is bye, at least for now." Naruto noted as he gave the girl a familiar looking grin. "In any case, take care of yourself!" He stated and the girl watched as the world around them suddenly vanished and her mind flowed away…_

Opening her eyes with a gasp, Aqua placed a hand to her head before suddenly shaking it. "Aqua, you okay?" King Mickey questioned of the blue haired girl and she looked from him to the armor on the ground. "Well, aren't you going to reclaim your armor?" Mickey questioned of the girl and she slowly nodded her head before kneeling down and placing a hand to the shoulder guard of the armor. Instantly it flashed brightly before vanishing in a swirl of colors that slipped into the plates on her left arm. Slowly standing the bluenette brought a hand to her chest while Mickey looked up to her with a worried look on his face.

"I-I'm fine… just… saw something strange." Aqua assured and the mouse looked at her for a moment before letting out a breath.

"Well, we should probably head back to Ansem the wise now, no telling what's happening up there without us." Mickey stated while walking out of the Room of Repose, Aqua hanging back to look around, stopping on the throne from before.

"Terra… Ven… I promise, someday, I'll find you both." Aqua whispered before turning and following Mickey out of the sublevel of the world, missing a brief flash of darkness as an armored individual with horns suddenly stepped out into the Room of Repose, then followed behind them as silently as he could…

TBC…

AN: Sorry yet again, work has been piling up lately so I wasn't really able to focus on finishing this chapter quickly. Also, blame Duodecim and the fact I learned of the "American McGee's Alice 2: Madness Returns" for how late this is. Hopefully I'll be able to get the next one out sooner, but be prepared for a long wait just in case.


	35. Revalations Pt1

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 34**_: _**Revelations Pt. 1**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(The Broken Kingdom…)

A Dark-Corridor is forcibly opened in the main hall of the castle in "The Broken Kingdom" the world that was once visited by a young Ventus and Master Xehanort. Outside of the corridor stands Xehanort himself as well as Xigbar, with the "Older" of the two now holding his Keyblade and yanking back on a wisp of black energy from the Corridor. "Are you sure you can pull that Apprentice of yours here? I mean c'mon, using these things as gateways isn't exactly an exact science either, but still… I've never heard of using one for fishing." Xigbar questioned of Xehanort then quipped while leaning his Arrow-Guns into his shoulders as the said man merely grumbled under his breath.

"You are quite correct Xigbar, however, barring interference from another source, I should be able to lock onto his energy signature and pull him here…" The man replied before rearing his arm back, yanking two forms out of the Corridor and grunting as he sees whom he's caught. "And it would seem as if my attempts to retrieve my young apprentice were indeed thwarted by an… unforeseen, force." Came the aged voice of Xehanort as he looked down on the forms of Axel and Larxene, both groaning as they looked up to see him and Xigbar standing over them.

"What do ya mean? Er, I mean, _**what**_ exactly could stop you from bringing him here instead of these two losers?" Xigbar questioned of his current, and technically past, employer and the man reached up to rub his chin.

"The Darkness itself for one…" He replied and Xigbar raised a brow and heard the man chuckle while turning his back to him and the others. "Contrary to popular belief, The Darkness is as sentient and alive as you or I are. This is also why those with weak wills are consumed by Darkness, the Darkness's own will overpowers them and changes them… in some cases into Heartless, but for those who seek power…" Xehanort explained to the one-eyed man before leaving off, but Xigbar nodded his head slowly, understanding where the man was coming from.

"Alright, one questioned answered, now what do we do with these two?" Xigbar asked the man in the black cloak and he hummed in thought for a moment before walking over to Larxene and threw her over one shoulder.

"We shall take them and let them rest in two of the still standing rooms in this place. It won't do for them to be tired when I decide on our next move… As for the moment, it seems as if the Darkness has its own plans for my new disciple." Xehanort replied with one arm behind his back and Xigbar shrugged while picking up Axel and following behind the old man, and only inwardly wondering what the man's true goal was now that he'd seemingly returned…

(Mysterious Voice: _The world was born from Darkness_…

_Unending Darkness, a crucible of Chaos_…

_But even to that primordial existence there came a ray of hope_…

_The universe was eventually split in two_…

_The Darkness became the realm of demons_…

_And the Light became the domain of mortals_…

_These two worlds existed together for what seemed like an eternity_…

_But one day, the lord of the whole Dark World said_…

"_**These realms were once united, so why not rule them as one**_?"

_From that era forward, the dark fought to control the light, and the light struggled to defy the dark_…

_But the nature of man is weak and fragile. There was no way they could hope to oppose the demonic powers of those from the world of Shadow_…

_Light was overwhelmed by the impenetrable Darkness, and humanity prepared to meet its end_…

_And then, __**he**__ appeared_…

_His name… was __**Sparda**_…

_He was a warrior from the demon world, yet the possessor of a proud spirit_…

_Sparda, having no loyalty to his kind, took up his weapons on behalf of the world of Light, wielding his sword for the sake of the weak. That sword destroyed even the Demon King. And without its king, the Darkness lost its power_…

_Sparda feared the return of The Darkness and sealed up that world, along with his own despicable dark powers and the wicked humans who had sided with the shadows_…

_The grateful survivors looked up to him as the hero who saved them, and they came to call him __**The Legendary Dark Knight Sparda**__. He quietly reigned over the human world and continued to preserve harmony until he eventually disappeared_…

_But the human spirit is weak, their memories as fleeting as the morning mist. The hero who purchased their freedom with his own blood became but a legend, and, over time, the legend became nothing but a fairy tale_…

_And so, __**two thousand years**__ would pass_…

(Past…)

_Ventus walked beside of his Master, after finding him and explaining what had happened in the mysterious mirror room. Master-Xehanort had been more concerned over the sphere he had found than any danger of the creatures, which lead to their current situation. Wherein, the old man and he are making their way down through the castle of The Broken Kingdom together, towards a door Master-Xehanort had found on his own exploration of the castle. "Master, what exactly are we looking for down here anyways?" The young blond questioned with a look and his master chuckled lightly before smiling towards his youthful apprentice._

"_An ancient relic that holds the collective knowledge of all the passed Keybearers my boy… known solely as "The Archive"." The aged man replied with a sweep of his hand and allowed his fingers to twitch, a noticeable smirk crossing his lips as he does._

"_Really? Cool, does that mean I won't have to learn all those boring facts about history that you keep droning on and on about?" Ventus questioned with an amused look on his face and Master-Xehanort gave the blond haired youth a flat look. "I'll take that as a no…" He mumbled and Master-Xehanort patted his head with an amused look crossing his features. Growling and pulling his Master's hand from his head, the blond then gave him a pointed look. "But why are we looking for it then? I mean, don't you already know enough about the past without finding The Archive?" He questioned of the aged man and Master-Xehanort slowly reached up to stroke his goatee for a moment._

"_Perhaps… but as I have said before Ventus, the search for knowledge never truly ends. In this world and others like it one can learn everything… and still understand absolutely nothing. It for that reason that I seek The Archive, it is so that I might understand what I already know, not to learn anything more." The aging Keyblade master explained to his young apprentice and Ven blinked before slowly nodding his head in understanding._

"_But… do we even know where to start looking for The Archive?" Ventus questioned and Master-Xehanort nodded his head with a sly look across his face, holding up the sphere Ventus had obtained from the creature in the mirror before._

"_Indeed I do, there is a doorway down here, it has two locks, one with a sphere in it, and another that does not… I suspect that this sphere you found for me, shall be the true Key of Knowledge that shall allow me to finally see… The Archive, for myself." Master-Xehanort replied as they came upon the door, it being a large double-door with numerous spike shaped bars overtop it, clearly keeping it tightly shut, with two large pedestals beside of it, a demonic looking face placed onto each pedestal that had an opened mouth, a sphere in the pedestal to the left._

"_So this is the door you mentioned, Master?" Ventus questioned of his teacher and the old man slowly nodded his head before walking to the empty pedestal. Placing the crystalline sphere into the open slot, Master-Xehanort then quickly stepped back as it seemed to slide into it. The pedestals eyes then flashed brilliantly as the spike-shaped bars over the door slowly pulled into the doorframe, one of the two large double-doors slowly swinging inwards. Looking to one another for only a moment, the two Key-Bearers then walked into the room and Master-Xehanort grinned widely._

_There before them was an odd looking contraption, a massive sphere of what appeared to be glass containing the brilliant essence of dozens of smaller multicolored glowing spheres within it. Around the large glass chamber is a golden device that attaches to the ceiling, and curves over its surface to create intricate designs along its sides, a single round shutter is placed at the front of the device with a small Keyhole visible above it. "At last I… no, __**We**__ have found The Archive, Ventus!" Master-Xehanort declared joyously as he walked forward and placed a hand onto the strange device._

"_It is truly magnificent… the collective memories and knowledge of a thousand Keyblade Masters held within such a simple device…" Master-Xehanort noted to himself as he looked at the swirling mass of color twisting and turning inside of The Archive. "It truly is a work of art." He mumbled mostly to himself while Ventus walked all around The Archive, paying more attention to the floor and walls. Said floor had an array of some kind, a "Achelmic" one if he wasn't mistaken, possibly meaning the old masters had used Alchemy to make The Archive, meaning it was similar to the Alchemic nature of Keyblade Armor._

_The walls however seemed to have something else upon them, a tale of war and death waging across and entire world painted across their surface. Ventus frowned as he saw the faces of several distinct monsters, one with an enormous eye and ten tails, one that was equally enormous with black wings and horns, one that seemed to be fat and sitting down with an elongated lower jaw and jade green eyes, one that had the body of an angel only with an enormous demonic hole in its chest, one that was small with a satyr like body and large horns with torn off wings, one that seemed to be female, another with a slightly female body with wings and a bulls head, and one that was a silhouette with an evil grin stretched across its face and one bright red eye…_

_And then finally, the last had four arms, a long tail, two massive wings and horns and sat upon an evil throne. "Ah, the great Demon Lords in the final battle to bring order to the chaotic worlds…" Master-Xehanort noted and brought Ventus from his reverie of seeing the strange mural that crawled the length of the wall._

"_Great Demon Lords?" Ventus questioned and saw a frown mar his master's features as he pointed to the first creature on the mural._

"_Juubi no Yami." He stated and then moved on along the long line of Demon Lords. "Chernabog. Malebolgia. Mundus. Lucifer. Lilith. Samael. Truth… and there leader, Lord of Discord, Chaos himself." Master-Xehanort explained as he went down the list of Demons and folded his arms behind his back. "These beings were the original threat to the world long before it was broken and scattered, these beings made The Darkness seem like an insignificant speck in the wind…" The aging master continued while Ventus looked to the creatures with a mixture of shock and worry._

"_Master… what do we do now?" Ventus questioned and his aging master slowly rubbed his chin before smiling over to him._

"_I need you to wait outside for a moment, Ventus. I have… something I must do." The aging master stated and Ventus looked at him for only a moment before slowly nodding his head and walking out of the room. The young blond never saw Master-Xehanort's eyes as he then looked to The Archive…_

(?)

Naruto lightly groaned as he felt a cold stone floor, flexing his fingers for a moment, he only briefly wondered just what the memory he'd seen truly was, before dismissing it as he always did. Slowly opening his eyes, the blond pushed himself up and then blinked for a moment as he found himself in a massive hall, a large pillar with glowing red lines rising from the floor and spiraling upwards passed even the ceiling. "Whoa…" He whispered before looking around and noticed that the place had a strange quality to it unlike that of any world he'd been too prior to this one, in fact, the feeling unnerved him greatly.

"Where am I this time?" He questioned aloud before looking around and then cursed when he only saw Xion, still passed out on the ground. "Crap, where are Alice and Tira? Axel and Larxene can take care of themselves but those two… and with how Alice has been acting lately." The blond haired teen muttered before shaking his head and blinking as a strange feeling flowed into him. "Whose there?" The blond demanded while turning to look around and then crouched upon seeing a figure walking towards him, its footsteps echoing loudly within the large room.

Looking to Xion for a moment, Naruto noticed that she seemed to still be out of it and formed No-Heart and OWA into his open hands, assuming a stance with narrowed eyes as an armored figure came into view. "Kami-Sama…" He whispered in awe, the figure forming a sword into one hand as it slowed and then came to a complete stop across from him, its armor crunching and grinding loudly as it then lifted a single armored hand and made a simple "C'mon" motion.

A deep guttural chuckle suddenly echoed from the armored behemoth, its features hidden completely beneath its armor. The said armor is thick, heavy, and bulky, forming spikes at its knees while being made from some kind of stone, with lines of ethereal blue energy crawling all over it, a long purple cape flows from its shoulders, an odd silver design embroidered into it barely visible from where Naruto is standing, last is its helmet, which has a mask that bears the appearance of a human face and was made of obsidian and silver, only with two red / blue vein covered horns curling forward and drooping before his glowing crimson red eyes. Meanwhile its sword was a wicked thing, as long as it was tail, with a sharp serrated edge and more lines of blue energy crawling over it…

"What the hell are you?" Naruto questioned while shivering, a feeling not of darkness, but of true evil practically pouring off of the creature and putting him on edge. Chuckling darkly, the creature then raised up both of its arms and made the simple c'mon gesture to the blond haired teen once more, its chuckle echoing in the recesses of the strange building. "So, you want to fight?" Naruto questioned of the creature, and a nod of its head followed by a chuckle was his only answer. "Fine, I'll take you done!" Naruto declared before the creature shook its head, confusing him for a second before it nudged to the unconscious Xion.

"You… don't want to fight where she'll get hurt?" Naruto questioned and the creature nodded its head and then turned on its heel and walked towards a large pair of double doors. Turning back to face him for a moment, it then raised an arm in a c'mon motion and ran over to the doors, kicking them open with one foot before entering a large ice filled room beyond it. "It has… Honor?" Naruto mumbled quietly, raising a brow, as that didn't seem plausible, given the amount of evil the thing was putting off. Shaking his head of that thought, Naruto then ran after the creature, and entered into the large ice covered room, only to turn and widen his eyes as a red field filled with screaming faces now blocked his path back to Xion.

"Shit!" He muttered and then turned around to face the creature, which was now standing on a ledge up above him. The creature then silently twirled its sword in its hands before raising it up high into the air with a grunt. As he did Dark-Fire suddenly formed along the length of the blade, Anti-Lightning also crackling along its length and sparking violently as it started to strike all around the room. _'Oh shit…'_ Naruto thought to himself with wide eyes as the lightning alone nearly char-broiled him and then creature then swung its blade in a single arc, creating a vacuum of air that seemed to slice everything in its path into two…

'_I am soooo screwed…'_ The blond added to his earlier thought as the creature let out another chuckle before lunging forward, jumping from its perch and landing on the ground with a heavy sounding thud. Quickly assuming a stance across from the armored behemoth, Naruto then widened his eyes as it vanished in a flash of Dark-Fire. "Where?" He asked quickly before ducking down as the armored behemoth's blade very nearly took his head off in one stroke. _'This guy could give Zabuza a run for his money!'_ Naruto thought to himself while rolling out of the way and swinging his Keyblades, quickly sending two arcs of Dark-Fire at the armored Behemoth.

However the Behemoth merely chuckled as he swung his enormous blade with a grunt of effort, effective slicing through both arcs and causing the flames to be absorbed into its blade. Twitching at the sight, Naruto mentally grimaced as the Behemoth then lunged forward, its blade shooting out in a stabbing motion. Ducking to the side to evade the attack, Naruto quickly swung both of his Keyblades at it only to widen his eyes as its armor blocked them completely. Laughing sinisterly, the behemoth then dug its sword into the ground while grabbing the blond haired teen by his throat and lifting him into the air above his head.

However before the Behemoth could do anymore damage, a fist from The Shade formed and slammed into its face. Stumbling back while Naruto was caught by one of The Shade's arms, growling furiously, the obsidian-skinned creature narrowed its eyes onto the Behemoth as it cracked its neck while getting up. Holding its right hand at its side, The Shade formed a sphere of Darkness before then hurling it at The Behemoth. Seeing the attack coming, the behemoth blocked with its arms, only for The Shade to form in front of it. Rearing back its free arm, The Shade then slammed its fist into The Behemoth's face, slamming his head back into a wall before setting him ablaze with a torrent of Dark Fire.

The blue-ish purple flames roared loudly as they surged over The Behemoth of armor, The Shade backing up with a semi-conscious Naruto in its arm. However it then widened its eyes as the Behemoth pulled itself out of the wall and chuckled darkly. **"C'mon!"** It urged while making a motion with its hands and The Shade reared its arm back before throwing a volley of disks made out of Darkness at the Behemoth. Twisting around them, The Behemoth then lunged forward jumping into a kick to The Shade's face and knocking it back. Rolling forward, The Behemoth grabbed its sword and twisted into a slash to the back of The Shade.

Making a sound of pain, The Shade dropped Naruto causing him to grunt before looking up as the symbiotic heartless quickly turned and blocked The Behemoth's next attack by using its bound arms. _**'Break my bonds, set me free… and forevermore… I shall protect thee…'**_ The voice of The Shade echoed out in Naruto's mind, causing him to groan, as it really didn't help his headache any. Shaking his head a second later, Naruto then watched on as The Behemoth knocked The Shade back by several paces.

Moving quickly, The Behemoth then lunged at The Shade and swung its sword straight through the Symbiotic entity. The Shade's eyes widened as The Behemoth chuckled and turned its head to look at it. Holding up a hand, The Behemoth then gave a thumbs down as a long cut formed along The Shade's body. The Symbiotic Entity then seemed to fall back as its form broke up into pieces of darkness that began to stain the floor, its very being vanishing as The Behemoth dug its blade back into the ground. With The Shade gone, The Behemoth turned over to Naruto and chuckled darkly. Marching over to the blond, he then kicked him up into the air before reaching out and grabbing him by his throat.

Gripping the behemoth's wrist with wide eyes Naruto then yelped as it jumped into the air and brought him down back first into the floor. He let out a muted sound and opened his mouth in a silent scream as the sheer force behind the attack cracked the semi ice-encased stone floor. Laughing once more, The Behemoth then lifted him, dragging him along the ground before slamming him into a wall. Grunting and hacking out blood Naruto gasped as he looked at the behemoth as it reared a fist back before slamming it into his face. His head snapped back and was embedded into the wall instantly after, his body practically boneless for all the good his abilities were doing him.

'_Got… to… think…'_ Naruto inwardly groaned out before he was ripped out of the wall by the Behemoth and was thrown into the ground. The Behemoth then stepped on his sternum, the floor giving way from the force of the blow as he did so. Laughing once more, the creature then reached down and picked him up by his hair before slamming the side of his face into the wall at his side. Crouching slightly the behemoth then launched himself forward, dragging the blond haired teen's face across the surface of the wall before stopping and throwing him into another wall opposite him. The Behemoth then walked back to his blade and pulled it out of the ground before making his way to the heavily injured blond.

'_Oh man… this guy… is __seriously__ strong…'_ Naruto couldn't help but think while hacking up blood and then took several deep breaths before looking to the behemoth. _'My Keyblades didn't have any effect on him, his armor is too dense… but maybe… a little Darkness is all I need to keep him away, while I heal.'_ The blond haired teen decided while slowly lifting up a hand and holding it towards the behemoth. Instantly, blades made from Shadows started to rise from the ground and flow towards the armored behemoth, only for him to chuckle as he blocked them with his blade before pushing forward, a tight frown crossing Naruto's features as he did so effortlessly.

Opening his hand Naruto then watched as a hand made from shadows and darkness formed, the armored Behemoth stopping to look at it. _'Take this you ass-hole!'_ Naruto inwardly growled as he used the shadow-hand to grab hold of the armored behemoth and lift him off of the ground. Clenching his fist he watched as the shadow hand did the same before he brought both his own hand, and the one made of shadows down to the ground, slamming the armored behemoth down hard. _'Please just stay down for a moment…'_ Naruto then thought to himself as he slumped back, only to mentally groan as the creature got up and rolled its shoulders in their sockets.

Looking at the blond it then chuckled while marching towards him once more, Naruto gritting his teeth as he kicked out with one foot, a shadow-leg forming and slamming into the behemoth as he did so. _'I really need to use this ability more often, it's useful as hell.'_ Naruto inwardly admitted while the Shadow-Leg seemed to vanish and the Behemoth fell to the ground, landing in a crouch before cracking its neck and letting out another chuckle, clearly very amused with his attempts to fight it. Feeling somewhat annoyed by this, the blond then placed both hands to the ground and causing shadows to form over it as he did so.

"Would you just die already?" Naruto demanded as spikes made of shadows shot up all around the room, impaling rocks and even the behemoth while the blond left himself unscathed by the assault. However the armor worn by the Behemoth still left him unscathed, and Naruto quickly decided to go on the defensive as it marched forward yet again. Holding up one hand he swung it in a wide arc, creating a wall of shadows, however the behemoth merely smashed that with the pommel of its large sword. Inwardly groaning the blond then snapped his fingers, chains made from the shadows shooting out and wrapping over the behemoth's arms and legs.

This slowed him down for all of a few seconds before he broke free of the chains with a flick of either arm. He then ripped the chains from his legs and marched forward once more, Naruto groaning as he approached. Thinking quickly yet again, the blond moved his arms in a circle, forming a sphere of shadowy energy around his body before then forming four more around that one. Taking a deep breath as he felt his wounds slowly mend themselves, the blond the grunted when the behemoth slammed his sword into the dome of energy. _'This won't end well…'_ Naruto thought to himself just as one of the Behemoth's fists pierced the dome and grabbed him by the throat.

The behemoth then jerked the blond up and out of the domes, causing them to fall down while he glared into the youth's blue eyes with his own burning crimson orbs. Gritting his teeth and gasping for breath, the blond watched as the Behemoth seemed to study him for a moment before unceremoniously dropping him to the ground. Kicking the blond, the Behemoth then turned on his heel and leaned his sword into his shoulders. Groaning in pain, Naruto looked up and watched as the Behemoth walked away from him, only to vanish in a flash of Dark-Fire. Hacking up blood, the blond then passed out on the floor, while inwardly wondering what new hell he'd found himself in…

(Radiant Garden…)

Three tiny pixies are at a fountain in the center of town, one is sitting down with her hands on her knees, the next is laying back with her head on the firsts leg, using it like a pillow, and the final Pixie is leaning against the fountain, arms crossed and eyes closed. The first of the Pixies has short brown hair around her head, a beaded string falling from the right side of her face, with a single long tail in red with a wing shaped charm near its base, her eyes are bi-colored, with the right eye being green with a swirl for a pupil, her left eye bright blue, her skin is fair and she has a moderate build.

The first Pixie wears a pair of knee length laced up blue boots, a blue pleated mini-skirt, a long blue / white half-skirt overtop that and tied off at her right hip, she also wears a hooded pink sleeveless under shirt, with a small sleeveless V neck white shirt overtop it with a blue string lacing it under her chest and a heart shaped blue charm at the front of it, and a yellow band around her left bicep.

Laying her head on this girl's leg is the second one, this one has wild blond hair with several braided strands at the top / side of her head, a blue bandanna wrapped over her head, small earrings in her ears, green eyes with spiral pupils, and tanned skin with an agile build. She wears a pair of pale blue boots with white toes, white stockings, a purple skirt with scalloped edge and two yellow ribbons at her hips, a yellow midriff baring tank-top with blue belts over her shoulders, long cream colored sleeves are worn over her arms with scalloped edges, and a long scalloped scarf that was yellow at the tips but turned from orange to red further inwards.

The last Pixie is significantly more "Gothic" looking than the prior two, having wild short grey hair with her bangs framing her face, sharp almost regal features, with brilliant crimson eyes, and pale skin with a strong lithe build. She wears black biker boots over a pair of black stockings, a pair of what look like leather shorts with a black belt with a skull buckle holding them up, a red studded belt hanging on her hips at an angle, a pair of bicep length black gloves, a black red lined tank-top that bears her midriff, a black colored cloth thrown over her shoulders with an X shaped charm, a pair of small bat wings coming off her shoulders, and a black choker collar around her throat.

"Boy Yunie, I'm sooooo bored!" The blond Pixie in the group suddenly exclaimed while stretching out her arms to her sides, the brown haired pixie shaking her head with a smile.

"It's alright Rikku, we'll eventually find something to do." The brown haired Pixie said to her friend confidently, and then smiled. "Once, Sir-Jecht and Sir Auron find what they came here for we can go traveling across the worlds again. In fact, we should probably enjoy ourselves before they do." Yuna reminded her friend and the blond frowned to herself for a moment before nodding.

"I know Yunie, but its just so boring around here without those Heartless things around… and there's also no treasure here either making it even more boring!" Rikku declared loudly before huffing and crossing her arms over her chest, a pout forming across her lips. "I just wish something interesting would happen, ya-know! I mean, like maybe finding a treasure map, or something like… like…" The blond pixie tried to explain before frowning as she tried to think of something perfect, only for the gray haired pixie to look up to the sky and blink.

"Like a fireball heading right for us…" She stated blandly and the other two pixies shot up and looked at the grey haired one. "There…" She then stated dully while holding one hand up with her finger pointing towards the heavens. Following their friend's finger for a moment, the other two Pixies then gasped when they saw what looked like a fireball heading straight for them. "Bored now?" The grey haired Pixie questioned of the blond blandly, only for her friends to grab her and quickly fly out of the way as the fireball suddenly slammed into the water in the fountain. Slowly poking their heads out from their temporary hiding place once it had, the three Pixies then blinked when they saw steam coming from the fountain…

"Whoa! What do you think that was, Yunie?" Rikku questioned and before the brown haired girl could reply, the grey haired one decided to interject.

"A fireball…" She noted blandly and got a look from the blond of the trio, the brunette letting out a sigh.

"I don't really know Rikku, and be nice Paine." Yuna ordered and the now named Paine merely hummed as she then jumped up and floated over towards the fountain.

"Paine! Get back here! We don't know what that is! It might be dangerous!" Rikku shouted as she raced after Paine, the brunette shaking her head with a slight smile as she flew after her two friends at a sedate pace. Soon coming to them she watched as Rikku continued to shout at Paine for a moment before noticing the grey haired girl was looking into the fountain intently.

"See something interesting, Paine?" She questioned of the other pixie with a tilt of her head, thus causing Rikku to pause and look down into the fountain.

"WHOA!" Rikku exclaimed and Paine let out a breath before nodding her head.

"Yes…" Paine stated rather simply while Rikku quickly turned and grabbed the brunette by her shoulders.

"Look, Yunie! It's a boy!" Rikku declared and then pulled the girl to the fountain, said brunette blowing a breath into her bangs before halting as she saw a blond haired teenaged boy laying unconscious in the fountain, steam still trailing off of his body, a sword with a hooked blade that seemed like it was made of water held in one hand… _'He looks… so familiar…'_ Yuna noted to herself, head tilted to one side as she slowly floated down and placed her feet on the unconscious youth's chest. "Is it just me, or does he seem really familiar?" Rikku suddenly questioned as she landed beside of Yuna, the girl nodding her head absently while Paine landed on his forehead.

"Never seen him before…" Paine declared and Rikku shot her friend a look while Yuna slowly walked forward and then crouched down to look at the boy's face for a moment. Tilting her head to one side yet again, the girl then closed her eyes before bringing one hand up to her mouth and whistled loudly. Rikku placed her hands over her ears as she did so, Paine raising a brow while Yuna slowly stopped and then watched as the blond haired boy's eyes slowly started to open.

"Hey look, he's waking up Yunie!" Rikku declared and Paine resisted the urge to comment on her stating the obvious as they all floated off of the blond as he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position.

"Ugh… my head…" He grumbled to himself while rubbing his head, then slowly opened his bright blue eyes and came face to face with Yuna. Falling back when he saw her, the blond then blinked his eyes open and shook his head while looking up towards the curious pixie. "Okay… something tells me I'm not on Destiny Islands anymore…" He noted aloud and Rikku snickered to herself, Paine rolling her eyes while Yuna slowly started to float around the youth's head. "Um, could you please stop that… your making me dizzy." Tidus pleaded with a slight smile and the pixie soon came to a halt in front of him and gave a little wave.

"Hello…" She offered while still staring at him, trying to remember why he looked so familiar to her. Blinking for a moment, the blond haired youth raised a gloved hand and gave a small wave back to her.

"Yeah, hi." He replied and then blinked when Rikku shot over, Paine following at a much slower pace than the blond. "Wow, how many of you are there?" Tidus questioned and Rikku suddenly pointed a finger at him accusingly.

"Alright buddy! Have we ever met before!" She demanded while pointing at him, her other hand in a fist on her hip and Yuna sighed while palming her face tiredly, Paine smirking slightly at them.

"No offence, but I think I'd remember meeting three cute pixies before." Tidus commented while bringing his hands up and allowing Yuna to stand on his palms, Rikku following the brunette with a wary look towards the blond boy while Paine leaned back in midair, arms crossed. "So since we're only just meeting, my name is Tidus!" The blond declared while jabbing his thumb towards his chest and Yuna smiled brilliantly while tilting her head to one side.

"I'm Yuna." She said with a curt bow and Rikku suddenly grinned.

"Rikku!" She declared jubilantly and Paine floated down and turned her back to the blond haired boy.

"Paine." She stated simply with a curt nod and Tidus slowly nodded his head before looking over each of the pixies.

"Yuna. Rikku. Paine." He said while nodding to each of the girls and then smiled as he fully stood up. "Nice to meet you girls, now if you'll excuse me, I have to find a freak in black and red armor…" Tidus stated with a frown and walked off as the trio floated behind him, Yuna looking worriedly from the boy's back to her friends before flying off after him.

"Yunie wait up! Aren't we supposed to wait for Mister Jecht or Mister Auron!" Rikku suddenly exclaimed before zipping after the brunette, Paine merely letting out a sigh before following after her comrades, wondering what kind trouble they were going to find themselves in this time. Just as they had gone off after the blond, a man walked over to the fountain, his singular red eye looking from where they went over to the fountain. Walking to the fountain, the man reached into the water and pulled out Tidus' necklace before shaking his head.

"This won't end well…" He noted mostly to himself before placing the necklace into his coat and slinging a large sword across his shoulders. "I better make sure they don't kill one another when they meet." He decided, knowing that they would definitely meet up merely by being in the same general area as one another, as he walked off after the trio of pixies and Tidus…

(?)

Naruto groaned while pushing himself onto his back and blinking his eyes open to stare at the ceiling above him. "Ugh… what was that guy?" He wondered to himself before slowly pushing himself up into a sitting position and rubbing his head. "Dammit… wait… The Shade!" He suddenly cried before trying to summon his symbiotic partner, only for his eyes to widen when it didn't come. "He… killed it?" Naruto wondered to himself before letting out a tired breath, as it's last words registered in his mind. "Set me free…" He mumbled to himself and then shook his head, his normally blue eyes slowly bleeding bright yellow.

"The Shade, he destroyed it!" He growled out furiously before pushing himself up onto his feet, wisps of darkness wafting off of his body. "I'll make him pay dearly for doing that!" He growled out before shaking his head and quickly rushing into the first room he'd been in, breathing a sigh of relief upon seeing Xion still unconscious yet still unharmed. Walking over to the black haired girl, the blond knelt down and lightly patted her cheek for a moment, frowning when she merely mumbled something and then turned to lay curled up on her side.

"You've got to be kidding me… she's been asleep this whole time?" The blond questioned incredulously before muttering as he tapped her on the cheek once more. Yet again the dark haired girl merely mumbled out something before curling up into a ball and hugging her legs to her chest. "WAKE UP!" The blond then shouted loudly yet still she slept on and he twitched before palming his face. "I swear she could sleep through a hurricane." He grumbled before sighing as he reared back a foot and kicked the girl in the side, causing her to yelp and then shoot up with a blink.

"Welcome back." Naruto said mockingly, arms crossed over his chest while Xion gave him an annoyed look.

"You kicked me!" She stated accusingly and the blond raised a brow before scowling at her.

"I know. No need to state the obvious." Naruto noted with a slight smirk while Xion pushed herself to her feet and continued to glare at him.

"What's that supposed to mean? And why are you being so grumpy all of a sudden?" She stated while poking him in the chest and Naruto merely smirked at the girl, vaguely noticing a memory of Ventus and Xehanort in a very similar position.

"I'm not being grumpy, you're the one who's grumpy." The blond stated simply while turning and walking around the room, looking for an exit with Xion following behind him. The said girl having a pout on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, still annoyed by the _**very**_ rude way he woke her up.

"You're such a jerk…" She grumbled out aloud, while also trying to do so quietly enough that he wouldn't notice, only for him to chuckle in response.

"And you could sleep through a hurricane." Naruto countered with a look back at the girl and she huffed while still following him, the blond smiling to himself for a moment at the pleasant atmosphere before frowning to himself as he walked up a large set of stairs.

"Where are we anyways?" Xion questioned while looking around and Naruto frowned for a moment before the Spellbinder of Knowledge started to give him some new information.

"Temen ni gru…" He replied and Xion blinked while looking at him with a confused expression across her features. "A gateway to hell itself apparently… or at least the Demon World where they were sealed eons ago." Naruto explained with a wave of one arm, frowning as he noted how similar to Master Xehanort the action actually was.

"Wow… does that mean Demon's live here?" Xion asked curiously and Naruto nodded his head, frowning as that actually answered what the creature that attacked him had been. _'Demons… the original key-bearers fought against them, but if that's true why couldn't I so much as damage that thing? Something about it is… different, or perhaps it's because of my Keyblade. Demons feed on Darkness, maybe, being on this world weakens my abilities enough that they have the advantage…'_ Naruto mused to himself silently, soon blinking his eyes open when he saw someone sitting on the steps, sprawled out and leaning back, holding a large cannon like weapon.

'_Hmmm… reminds me of Kitten's Harkonnen.'_ Naruto noted while staring at the large weapon, also noting the combat-knife strapped to the end of it. _'You know, if Kitten had one of those strapped to her Harkonnen, she could probably use it as a Melee weapon as well as a long-range weapon… we could even weld the knife there, make it out of silver, and she'd be set. Then again, she'd also have to get used to the added weight of the knife, but with her freakish level of strength that shouldn't be too hard. The different method of combat on the other hand might take a bit longer.'_ The blond haired youth mused to himself before shaking his head and taking a better look at the woman holding the gun, and quickly pinching his nose to stop a slight nosebleed.

The woman was voluptuous to say the very least with pale creamy skin, a full figure, and lithe build, a small scar ran across the bridge of her nose much like his old sensei Iruka, with another scar visible on her left thigh that seemed to be the same size as the knife on her gun, she also has shaggy neck length dark brown hair, with her eyes covered by a pair of orange sunglasses. She wears an off white jacket with a single button holding it close, exposing her generous cleavage, a brown harness worn over it with a strap over the top of her chest, a small necklace with a red jewel, red gloves with a hole at the back of her fists, what looked like white hot-pants more than anything, a pair of brown belts attached to numerous ammo-cases on her left hip down to two straps on her left thigh, and finally was a pair of brown laced up and knee length combat boots.

"Okay… it's official, all women in the realm of Darkness are ungodly hot…" Naruto muttered under his breath as he walked forward, Xion looking at the woman in shock and a small amount of jealousy, wondering if she'd ever fill out like that.

"Who is she?" Xion then wondered and inwardly chastised herself for envying the older woman, though she supposed it wasn't unnatural to do so, she felt she shouldn't worry about such things. _'Then again, I'll look just like "Kairi" no matter what I do… well… save for my clothes and hair at least.'_ Xion thought to herself and sighed at the admittedly depressing thought of being little more than a clone of Kairi in body, and a clone of Sora in mind…

"Not sure, and the outfit is kind of misleading…" The blond haired youth noted while forming Dark-Heart into his hand and walking over to the woman. Looking at her for a moment, the blond then started to poke her with Dark-Heart, and then cursed while ducking down as she almost instantly swung her massive gun's blade at his throat. _'Also, all women in The Realm of Darkness can kick serious ass…'_ Naruto thought to himself as it seemed to be true for every world he visited, that each woman on it was also tough as nails and able to kick the crap out of anyone they wanted too.

"What the… where?" The woman noted while coming back into consciousness, Naruto shivering as he realized she hadn't even truly been aware of him, merely felt his presence and reacted accordingly to a perceived threat. _'Okay that says she's experienced in combat, as well as very paranoid at the least, not to mention extremely dangerous.'_ The blond thought to himself while the woman frowned as she noted her surroundings with narrowed eyes. "Never thought I'd be in this hell-hole again." She noted before her eyes spotted the two, and then raised a brow when she saw the key held in Naruto's hand.

"Who are you two and what are you doing here?" The woman asked cautiously while holding her enormous cannon like gun towards them, Xion holding up her hands with wide eyes while Naruto gave the young girl a look.

"In order, I'm Naruto and this is Xion with an X. As for what we're doing here… to hell if we know." Naruto replied and saw the woman gaze at them for a moment before nudging the tip of her weapon towards Dark-Heart.

"Is that a Keyblade?" She asked and Naruto blinked in surprise before nodding his head, the woman frowning before pulling her weapon back. "I see, so you'd either be a Keyblade Master or an Apprentice." She mused aloud and Naruto stared at the woman for a long moment before frowning deeply as he dismissed Dark-Heart.

"How the hell do you know so much about the Keyblade?" The blond demanded and the woman seemed unperturbed as she lifted her weapon and carried it along her shoulders with great ease, seemingly unaffected by its obvious weight.

"My… "Father" was into various forms of occult research. One of the many things he discovered was The Keyblade, said to be able to open any door or lock, but unable to be used by any save it's chosen wielder…" The woman replied in a bored sounding tone, though Naruto noticed how tense she got at the mention of her father.

"I see… uh… then mind telling us who you are miss?" Naruto questioned and the woman smirked slightly towards him.

"Call me Lady." She replied and Naruto blinked while Xion tilted her head to one side while looking at her.

"There's also a dog named Lady in Traverse Town." She noted aloud and thus got looks from both Naruto and the now named "Lady". "I'm just saying…" She then said while backing up and looking away from the two, Naruto sighing as he turned around to face Lady, who was looking up with a deep frown.

"Well now that that's cleared up, I have to wonder if you'd be so kind as to tell us how you got here? 'Cause currently I've woken up on multiple different worlds and just decided to go with it." Naruto questioned of the woman and Lady merely hummed for a moment as she checked the ammo in her cannon and then pulled a pistol from her side.

"I'm not completely sure. Me, Trish, and Dante were on a job, there was a bright light, then I'm waking up here." Lady replied while stowing the pistol away and affixing her massive cannon onto her back. "I'm more surprised no Demon's attacked me while I was sleeping, I've probably made more than a few enemies in the Demon-World with my occupation of hunting them." Lady added with a genuinely surprised tone and Naruto blinked before looking at the Demon-Hunter warily.

"You actually hunt for demons… for a living, by choice?" The blond questioned of the woman incredulously and she mutely nodded her head while scanning the area. While deciding that she was most likely insane to hunt demons, but also deciding that he needed information on the one that attacked him, Naruto then crossed his arms and looked to the woman with a frown. "Okay, then have you ever encountered a demon with a purple cape, dark grey armor, and a serrated sword?" Naruto questioned and the woman's head snapped over to him and her eyes narrowed behind her glasses.

"I might have… why?" She asked slowly and Naruto pointed a thumb in the direction of the ice-encased room he'd fought the Behemoth in.

"Cause the thing kicked my ass and killed my symbiotic Partner, The Shade a short while ago." Naruto replied and Lady frowned once more before reaching up to rub her chin for a moment.

"She's he's alive after all this time… Nelo-Angelo." She mumbled then whispered something to herself quietly at the end, and Naruto was thankful to at least have a name to staple on the creature now, though it sounded weird for some reason. "My best advice would be to avoid him, he's one of the strongest Demons Hell has to offer, and an expert swordsmen." Lady advised the blond with a warning in her tone and Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

"Sounds like you know him pretty well." Naruto noted aloud with a raised brow and Lady nodded her head, a grave expression across her face.

"I do, I fought both him and his brother at the same time once, even weakened and out of energy, he still managed to match me blow for blow while still fighting against his twin brother." Lady replied flatly and Naruto's eyebrows shot up at that tidbit, worrying him greatly before he shook his head.

"Don't care, he killed The Shade, even if my Keyblades can't crack his armor I'll find a way to get him back for that." The blond haired youth growled out darkly and Lady let out an annoyed breath before kneeling down and reaching into her boot. Pulling out a strange curved blade the woman then flicked it, causing it to unlock into a slightly longer curved knife with an almost S shape to it.

"Take this, it's called Gloria, a Thunder-Demon made it and it carries some of her powers inside of it." Lady offered while tossing the weapon to Naruto, the blond cursing as he barely caught it without it cutting his hands up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and try to find Dante and Trish, preferably before they find you or some other unlucky soul around her." Lady then said while walking to the side and placing a boot onto the side of the rail. Hefting up her massive gun she then fired the knife at the end of it up and allowed it to dig into a spot before retracting the line, thus pulling her up into the tower while Naruto and Xion watched.

"She's quite impressive." Xion noted and Naruto silently nodded his head in agreement before looking to the knife called "Gloria" for a moment and folding it back down as he stuck it inside of his coat. "So where too now?" She then asked and Naruto frowned before letting out a sigh.

"Seeing as I have absolutely no I idea where the other's are, we'll start down here and work our way up." Naruto replied before walking off with Xion following behind him, soon coming to a doorway that led to a large room with statues that seemed to mock chess-pieces for some reason…

(?)

Vanitas let out several labored breaths as he stood across from Wrath, the strange almost deranged creature forming out of the mass of smoke he'd generated from his body. Growling low in his throat, Vanitas rose up to a kneeling position and took several deep breaths while Wrath swayed in place in an almost inhuman way. _"You really should just give up, there's no point in this futile struggle, give in and you shall never know pain ever again.'_ Wrath stated simply while twisting his head downward, making it slowly bend around in place before snapping back into its original position. Grimacing in disgust of the creature, Vanitas then picked himself up and frowned while gripping his Keyblade's hilt with both hands.

"Listen up freak-show, I'm not a nice guy by any fucking stretch of the imagination. But I'm not about to go and give up just 'cause the chips are down, in fact, that makes it more fun for me!" Vanitas declared with a grin while taking what appeared to be a Kendo stance. Chuckling to itself, Wrath flowed forward with an unearthly grace swinging his arms and legs as if they were mere tools rather than its own limbs. Moving and twisting out of the way, Vanitas then side-stepped the creature and quickly swung his Keyblade, only for Wrath to shift into smoke and then move around, rising up into the air before reforming into his humanoid shape.

Falling down towards Vanitas, the Guardian of Pain then threw his arms to the side, a pair of blades shooting out of his arms. "What the hell…" Vanitas muttered as he saw blood flow from where the blades had been ejected and quickly moved out of the way as Wrath came down in a spin and nearly cut him in half. Landing on the ground Wrath came out in a low crouch before moving his hands to the ground and bent his limbs, causing his torso to be low to the ground while his elbows were high, and his knees had seemingly been snapped backwards.

Making a slightly disgusted noise in the back of his throat at the sight, Vanitas then cursed while moving back as the creature lunged at him, swinging both of its blade arms forward. Thinking quickly, Vanitas then flipped into the air before gripping his Keyblade's hilt and bringing it down on top of Wrath, only for it to deform into a burst of smoke as it had before. _'That shit is really starting to get on my nerves.'_ Vanitas noted to himself before swinging his blade through the smoke for a moment before he watched as Wrath reformed and swayed in place for a moment. Not giving him even a second to recover, Vanitas formed a dark-fireball into his hand and unleashed it onto the creature.

The fireball impacted with its target and Vanitas quickly lunged forward, Wrath lifting his head and pointing one of its blades at him. The blade then seemed to shoot out of its wrist, connected to him via a razor chain, cursing under his breath, Vanitas ducked under the blade and lunged forward once more, bringing his Keyblade down on top of the GOP. Wrath merely seemed to give a grunt as he hit the ground, and barely seemed to notice as Vanitas twisted around and kicked him in his ribs. The creature flew back for several feet before it yanked back on its arm, the chain connecting to the b lade he'd ejected earlier quickly coming taut.

Reeling himself forward, Wrath swung his other blade at Vanitas neck, only for the remnant of Vanitas to lean back to evade the swing. Moving to his blade and allowing it to reattach to his arm, Wrath then yanked it out of the wall before turning to face Vanitas once more, only for the said white-seeker to slam his Keyblade into the side of his head. Disorientated, the GOP was knocked back for a few moments before swaying in place as Vanitas slammed a fist into his chin, knocking him into the air only for the white seeker to slam his keyblade down, slicing cleanly through the GOP. The creature fell down into two pieces, while Vanitas then flipped back and grinned darkly.

"Your gone, loser!" Vanitas declared with a wide grin only to take a step back as a burst of smoke was expelled from Wrath's body. Soon the separate pieces shot up, his legs flipping onto their feet while his torso walked on his hands. Making his way over to his legs, Wrath's torso then climbed upwards and reattached itself to its body. A burst of black threads seemed to form a second later, only to vanish and reveal the Guardian had been returned to pristine condition. "You gotta be shitting me." Vanitas muttered under his breath before narrowing his golden-yellow eyes as he saw that the numerous black leather bands on Wrath's body were starting to loosen, revealing very pale blue-ish grey colored skin beneath them.

"'_Twould seem as if you're much more powerful than I anticipated…'_ Wrath noted before reaching up and ripping the bands from his head while leaving the faceplate / muzzle he'd been wearing, revealing stark white shaggy hair, a pale blue-ish grey skin pigmentation with black rings around both of its eyes, and pitch black eyes, not even a hint of any other color in their depths, not even having a white sclera, it was all just a deep unforgiving black…

"What the hell are you?" Vanitas demanded lowly while also becoming wary of the strange creature when he saw a strange obsidian black power literally start to ooze off of its body, as if it were failing at holding something in. Unable to tell if Wrath was looking at him due to his strange eyes, Vanitas then widened his own as Wrath seemed to teleport and stand before him, head lightly tilted to one side.

"_My name is unimportant, as I have said before I believe, what is important, is that I must thank you."_ Wrath then said while taking several steps back and kneeling down into a bow towards Vanitas, more of the strange bands around his body falling away. _"And so I do, thank you for releasing the seal the Keyblade Master's placed on me eons ago… fool."_ Wrath offered mockingly, an insidious grin clear by the way it's eyes had moved, Vanitas growling even as a bright flash of light suddenly consumed his vision and Wrath vanished from sight.

Opening his eyes a second later, Vanitas frowned when he found himself back in Twilight Town, more importantly, in the abandoned mansion. _'Great, I pulled a Ventus and unleashed untold evil onto the worlds…'_ Vanitas thought with a frown before reaching up and stretching out his arms with a bored look on his face. _'Eh, as long as they don't fuck with me it's not my problem.'_ He decided while crossing his arms over his chest and walking out of the mansion and then rubbed at his chin. _'But, I do need to get stronger, and my Unversed aren't doing much good yet…'_ Vanitas decided with a frown, as it seemed his Unversed could only hold so much without being overpowered.

'_I could send some stronger one's out now that I'm a bit stronger, but I need for the humans to destroy them after they gather enough negativity. So I guess I'll have to figure out another way of getting stronger… if Ventus was around, I'd just possess him, but since he's not…'_ Vanitas inwardly noted before stopping in his tracks and grinning darkly as an idea suddenly came to mind. _'Wait a minute… I do know where my half of Ven's heart is… Naruto.'_ Vanitas then decided while walking forward and opening up a Dark-Corridor, smirking beneath his mask, as he knew where he was heading next…

(Temen ni gru…)

As Naruto and Xion continued to wander around the Temen-ni-gru, the blond haired teen narrowed his eyes dangerously. Every hall and corridor they went through seemed to give off the same feeling of danger that "Nelo-Angelo" had given off when they had first met. But, he also noticed that it seemed to intensify and grow more and more noticeable the further upwards they went. _'This place… no Keyblade wielder would ever come here willingly, and I highly doubt any Soulless would be caught dead or alive in a place like this either.'_ The blond thought to himself, as he was certain with how "Angel Like" the Soulless were, they would avoid this place like it held the plague.

"M-Master… I'm getting a r-really bad feeling from th-this place." Xion suddenly noted and Naruto turned to look at her with a raised brow. The girl was huddled in on herself, fear practically written across her face and skin deathly pale. _'I'm used to demonic aura's thanks to all that time of having Kyuubi inside of me, but Xion and the other's…'_ Naruto thought to himself before placing a hand onto the girl's head and giving a kind smile with his eyes closed.

"Its alright, I won't let anything happen to you." Naruto promised before opening his eyes and seeing a vision of Ventus in Xion's place for a fraction of a second. _'I… I just quoted word for word what Master-Xehanort said on the day he met Ventus…'_ The blond haired teen realized with a vaguely bad feeling somewhere in the back of his mind before giving the dark haired girl a look. "Now then, where did the "master" bit, come from?" Naruto questioned of the dark haired girl and Xion blinked for a moment before smiling weakly.

"I… I guess its cause I saw you in my dream… and you helped me there, so I figure you're the closest thing to being my teacher." She replied shyly and Naruto slowly reached up to rub his chin with a thoughtful expression before nodding his head and walking off, Xion following closely behind him. "What is this feeling I'm getting? Why am I so scared?" Xion asked and Naruto looked around once more, vaguely noticing the plethora of Demoni-Aura's that were practically covering the building.

"What your experiencing is the sense of hopelessness that being close to a powerful Demon creates. Just as Heartless and others who use the Darkness all give off a certain "Smell". The Light in a person is visible to those who are trained to notice it. Demons generate more of a feeling, and unlike the others, it either makes them paranoid and fearful, or entices them like a seductress in some cases." Naruto explained with a wave of one hand to the side before turning down another hall with Xion still sticking close behind him.

"Demons? You mean they're real?" Xion asked the blond haired teen worriedly and Naruto silently nodded his head with a grave look on his face, unaware that his eyes were bleeding a familiar yellow gold.

"Indeed. Demons were the original enemies to Keyblade Wielders, the original force of Darkness that tried to destroy the light. However, the demons were eventually defeated by several powerful warriors who defended the light, among them was one of the demons own kin, The Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda." Naruto explained as he stopped and entered into an old library, Xion following behind him and looking around warily for any kind of monsters. In her own defense, her time in the worlds of light hadn't prepared her for the sheer level of death and mayhem in the realm of darkness.

'_In fact, The Realm of Light seems almost… childish, compared to the horror and evil born in The Realm of Darkness. They're all so pure and simple, there is good and there is evil, there's really no middle-ground, but here… here its all jumbled and blurred, good can be evil, and evil can be good.'_ Xion realized as she continued to walk behind Naruto only to sigh as she saw him pick up a book. _'Shouldn't we be looking for the other's?'_ She wondered to herself while then sitting down with her legs crossed and let out a soft sigh while considering their situation.

Alice and Tira were both MIA, as were Axel and Larxene, and while she'd like to look for Axel, she had seen how Alice was mentally fragile at the moment. While she hadn't known her for very long, the fact the girl had been in tears and clinging to Naruto like a lifeline seemed to suggest a very fragile person. _'The worlds of Darkness also seem to have a lot of those kinds.'_ Xion mused as she could tell the majority of people in the worlds of Darkness she'd either met or heard of thus far, all seemed to have some kind of severe mental trauma. That thought caused a small sad frown to slip across her face, while she was somewhat different thanks to the darkness in her heart, she was still a very kind and compassionate girl at her core…

As Xion was having these thoughts, Naruto was looking at a book about The Legend of Sparda silently. His only knowledge on Sparda came from some of the memories he had of Ventus and Master-Xehanort, but from what the book was saying the old master hadn't known much. Contrary to what he'd been told, it seemed Sparda had ruled the world for a time, his specific world to be exact. And it also seemed that Sparda had fought the Demon World twice, the first time two thousand years in the past, when he helped beat back the Demon-world with aid from a small band of Keybearers, and then again, several hundred years in the future, around the time that the original Keyblade War had broken out.

'_Master, why do I have these visions? What purpose could they possibly serve, I mean, am I supposed Ventus? Or am I someone else?'_ The blond wondered to himself before raising a brow when he saw a box placed among the many books of the library. The box was white and seemed out of place given the age of the many different tombs and texts around him. Reaching out and taking the box, the blond haired teen then opened it and frowned when he found two objects held within, resting on top of some paper. The first was a pair of straps making an X shape, connected via a Keyblade-Wielder emblem. The second object was a green, star-shaped charm with an identical symbol in the center, and crowns at the points.

"A way-finder…" Naruto whispered while taking the green charm out of the box and looking at it, his eyes clouding over as he did. "Aqua… Terra…" He whispered in an unfamiliar voice before shaking his head and pulling the straps in the box out. Looking at himself for a moment, he then grimaced as he realized how torn and tattered his clothes had become since he'd originally obtained them. _'Yeesh, I really need to get sturdier clothes if I'm always going to go around fighting like I do…'_ The blond haired teen thought before absently slipping the straps on under his Dark-Cloak and snapping the charm at the center in place.

Sticking the Way-Finder into his pocket once that was done, Naruto then pulled out the pieces of paper and frowned when he saw that it was yet another of Xehanort's many reports…

(Xehanort's Report 4…)

_And when Kingdom Hearts is complete, it is said that he who opens its door shall bring about the creation of the next world. Such a feat is above any human. Or to put it a different way: whoever opens that door will be born as something far greater than any human._

_Light and Darkness are two sides of the same coin; without darkness, there is no light. The Keyblade Wielders' great war over Kingdom Hearts was fought by defenders of The Light, servants of Darkness, those who sought to reconcile the two, and those motivated by nothing more than lust for power. A whole spectrum of thought was swept into the conflict, and the worlds that did not go to war found the war brought to them. In the end, the whole world was cast into darkness. This as how the ancient Keyblade War was brought to a close. To this day, no one has ever managed to open the door to Kingdom Hearts._

_Some time later, the little light that remained in the hearts of the few gave rise to the World we know today: one made of many worlds behind just as many walls, so that the Keyblade War would not be repeated._

'_So that's what the "Keyblade War" really was… I wonder, what else did Master Xehanort learn about it?'_ Naruto wondered to himself as he absently folded up the report and stuck it into his pocket with the other papers he'd collected. Frowning in thought Naruto then cupped his chin as he considered his next move. While he still needed to find Alice, this "Temen-ni-gru" place was larger than he'd originally anticipated, so actually finding Alice would prove more difficult due merely to that. "Do you always think so much about such a simple problem?" A calm smooth voice rang out and Naruto almost subconsciously formed One-Winged-Angel while turning to hold his blade at the person, leaning his head back as the tip of a Katana came at his throat.

"Do you always go and hold swords at peoples throats?" The calm question came out with just the barest hints of amusement and Naruto narrowed his eye onto the person who had spoken. He was an oddly androgynous in appearance, being extremely thin yet still with very muscular, wearing a dark green suit with an amulet hanging from his neck innocently, he also had on a black undershirt, and simple yellow tie, skull shaped silver cufflinks, and expensive looking black shoes. But his head and hands were odder still, wrapped up completely in bandages, a pair of dangerous blood red eyes peering out through gaps in the cloth while another allowed his smirk to barely be seen.

The weapon he was wielding was an old katana, it has a black handle with a small length of chain falling from the pommel, the guard seeming to be missing, a red ribbon is also tied to it near the pommel, and stretches out in a tattered cloth, the word "Gilver" is barely visible at the hilt, the blade was completely obsidian black, and oddly, two lines of blue energy seem to travel the length of the blade and run down the sides of its handle before connecting together at the hilt.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto demanded, drawing Xion's attention and the girl quickly got up while the bandaged man smirked as he pulled his Katana back, spun it in hand for a moment, and then sheathed it into a simple black sheath in his left hand. As he did, Naruto instantly noticed a demonic aura flared to life around him, causing the blond to immediately go on edge. _'But… it's diluted, like he's not all demon or something.'_ Naruto inwardly noted while Gilver's crimson red eyes drew his immediate attention, making his shiver at the intenseness of the man's gaze.

"My name…" The man, as his voice suggested at least, then bowed at the waist rather dramatically and swept his arm like a noble. "… is, Gilver." He replied at last before straightening out, a slight smirk visible across his lips. "And I know quite a bit about this place, and felt you could use… some assistance." Gilver explained plainly while the fingers on his right hand twitched lightly, Naruto frowning as he dismissed One-Winged-Angel and drawing Gilver's immediate attention. "That's an interesting sword." He noted aloud and Naruto frowned towards him, a very bad feeling coming from the man clad in green.

"It's a Keyblade." Naruto retorted and saw the smirk widen along the length of Gilver's face when he did. Twirling his still sheathed blade to hold it upright at his back, Gilver then reached up and cupped his chin thoughtfully for a moment.

"I see, so that's a Keyblade then." The bandaged man mused in barely a whisper before smirking towards Naruto darkly. "Then I would assume that that would make you a Keyblade Master? Am I correct?" Gilver questioned and the blond slowly nodded his head, his burning red eyes darting over to Xion as she moved to Naruto's side. "I see, so young, and yet already a master…" Gilver said with a chuckle and Naruto blinked for a moment before frowning deeply.

"I'm not a true "Master" in anything but name, Xion calls me that, and so I am a master to someone." Naruto retorted and the green clad man let out a light humm while crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back. "Now why don't you tell me what you're doing here?" Naruto demanded with a scowl and Gilver smirked lightly towards the blond before turning his back to him and walking a few steps.

"I am… seeking something out." He replied and then noticed the unease clear not only in Xion's body language, but also on her face. "But, I don't suppose it would hurt anything if I give you some advice, young master." Gilver stated mockingly and Naruto scowled at him deeper than before, the green clad man twirling his sheathed katana in hand before bringing it down like it cane. "This place, this tower, is a gateway to hell, beware of demons, for they wander these halls to over run mere mortals with sheer numbers rather than skill or power. Devil's, more powerful beings, will always be in larger areas to make use of their powers in battle." Gilver warned with a serious look across his features before smiling evilly as he closed his eyes.

"Also, the girls, Alice and Tira I believe, they aren't on this world, the Dark-Corridor you came in didn't expel them, so they're on a different world for the moment… And, if you're seeking Nelo-Angelo…" He started and a growl echoed from Naruto's throat at the mention of the demon's name. "There are two places he could be, The Seal Chamber in the center and middle of this tower, or the roof…" Gilver offered before reaching up and tapping his chin for a moment, then snapping his fingers in recollection. "Oh, and if you see a man named Dante running around… tell him this for me, tell him, Gilver is waiting for him, in that place…" The man added darkly before vanishing in a familiar flash of blueish purple flames.

As he vanished, Xion let out a breath while visibly relaxing, Naruto merely narrowing his yellow-gold eyes where he had been not a few seconds before. "Master… that guy, he really gave me the creeps." Xion noted and Naruto crossed his arms for a moment before looking up. _'Okay, if they're not on this world, then just where are Alice and Tira? And why didn't they land with us? And I can already tell that that Gilver guy is several miles of bad-road, I only just met him but I already know he's someone I shouldn't trust. Then again, at least I know where to find you now… Nelo-Angelo.'_ He inwardly wondered to himself before shaking his head with a frown and looking to Xion.

"C'mon, we better figure out why we were brought to this world and do it fast, otherwise I have a feeling we'll just get brought back here again and again. And I'd like to find Alice as soon as possible… or at least that Nelo creep…" Naruto stated while walking off towards the exit, soon followed by Xion while a figure stood in the darkness, frowning to herself before vanishing in a flash of golden light…

(Olympus Coliseum…)

A familiar man in red is lounging back with one leg crossed over the other, a fruity beverage with a tiny umbrella in one hand. The man is laying on the stairs to the coliseum while looking to the clouds in the sky. **"Thank's for the drink, Author man."** Deadpool noted with an incline of his head over towards an annoyed Liximawl as he typed away on an old laptop. Twitching violently for a moment the blond then glared over at the red clad assassin while Duela snickered while sitting on a hog-tied Pegasus.

"Shut up already, Deadpool! I already have enough trouble updating without you and Duela constantly kidnapping me into the damn story!" Liximawl shouted at the man in red before reaching up to rub his temples, then sneezed and broke out into a hacking cough for a moment before patting his chest.

"I think you might be starting to get sick Mister-Author-Dude…" Duela noted with notable concern in her tone and got a look from the black clad man as his response.

"It's just my allergies acting up cause its the beginning of Summer, Duela…" Liximawl insisted while wiping his nose on an old green handkerchief from his pocket, then went back to typing with a deep frown.

"**You say that every year boss-man, then you end up lazing around in your misery and leaving all your stories un-updated."** Deadpool reminded while pulling up his mask to his nose, showing horribly disfigured brown skin beneath it as he took a sip… **"Hey! My skin isn't… aw who am I kidding, I look like fucking Freddy Krueger… but at least the ladies still prefer me over, Cable!"** Deadpool declared to no one while a man in a "goofy" looking outfit walked up to the three, carrying a struggling, bound, and gagged Hercules over one shoulder.

The man is tall and seemingly muscular with what appears like red kabuki markings on his face, his skin seeming white and his eyes are also, her wears a pair of baggy grey shorts with red-polka-dots, he also wears a pair of gold armored black knee length boots, he also wears black gauntlets with grey armor over the back of his hands, a spiked pad is over his left elbow, he also wears torso armor with black straps crossing around his back and a gold demonic face at the front of his waist, several trailing pieces of cloth falling down his waist along with a sheathed dagger, last he wears a red scarf as a hood with black horns and a metal plate at the front of it, and metal shoulder guards, numerous jeweled beads also coming off of the costume.

"What I want to know is why I'm here? I'm not that much of a "Fourth-Wall-Breaker"… at least not compared to these two!" The man noted while rubbing his head with a frown on his face and Deadpool shot up with a grin on the exposed portion of his face.

"**Yo! Gilgamesh my man!"** Deadpool exclaimed while Duela flipped over and hugged an annoyed Liximawl.

"Thank you sooooo much mister-author-dude! I love that guy!" The crazy-clown girl declared while Gilgamesh blinked for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders.

"You people are crazy even by my standards…" He noted while Liximawl smirked while giving a thumbs-up to the red clad warrior.

"You'll get no arguments from me dude…" Liximawl declared and Duela rolled her eyes before wrapping her arms around his shoulders and placing her chin on the top of his head with a grin.

"So how'd you capture mister Hercules there anyways? He isn't a Demi-God for nothing ya know!" Duela asked of Gilgamesh with a grin on her face and the warrior laughed before dropping Hercules to the ground. Jumping up, the man then did a silly dance before quickly taking a _**VERY**_ familiar looking kabuki pose…

"The fool was easy to capture! For none can withstand the mighty power of the great Gilgamesh!" The man declared and Duela fell over laughing while Deadpool snickered and Liximawl slapped his face.

"Great… the only one who thinks these people are crazy as well and he's nuts too…" Liximawl grumbled before looking around and then frowned deeply. "Where are the other nutso's at anyways?" Liximawl wondered to himself for a moment before hearing a random explosion in the coliseum and Deadpool grinned.

"**Remodeling the arena for the Chaos-Cup…"** Deadpool replied and Duela snickered to herself and Gilgamesh finally stopped his silly pose.

"Why? I thought it looked fair enough for battle…" Gilgamesh noted aloud and both Duela and Deadpool looked from one another then to the man.

"Because! It can't be a "Chaos-Cup" if it's all nice and orderly like they had it built!" Duela replied and Deadpool nodded his head while pulling his mask back down over his disfigured face.

"**Besides all that, last I saw her, "Babe-pool" was catching ol' Phil for hitting on her!"** Deadpool added and Liximawl blinked for a moment before looking at the red / black clad assassin strangely.

"Babe-pool? Really?" He asked flatly and Deadpool shrugged his shoulders.

"**What, she's hot…"** Deadpool reminded and Liximawl slapped his face and then glared at him in annoyance.

"She's you from another dimension you stupid ass!" He shouted and Deadpool nodded his head before Duela popped up from behind Liximawl with a grin.

"And yet he still made out with her that one time!" Duela declared with a finger pointing to the sky and all of them were silent before turning to stare at Deadpool, mostly with disgust. The said "Merc-with-a-mouth" shivered for a moment before seeming to zone out as he slowly nodded his head in recollection.

"**Yeah… that was without a doubt the single most awkward event to happen in my entire life… and that's really saying something."** Deadpool noted while a woman with a long blond ponytail walked over, dragging Phil by one of his legs.

The woman was dressed identically to Deadpool, with a skintight red / black full body suit to her mask, though the mask has a hole in the top for her long blond ponytail along with a black hair-band, the sleeves have been rolled up to show deeply tanned skin, and its been unzipped enough to show her cleavage, a black choker collar over the suit, with an old brown backpack was worn over her shoulders, two katana sheathed on her back, a brown pouched utility belt with a deadpool icon as the buckle, a pair of brown straps around her thighs with more pockets on them, a pair of red gloves with black cuffs and padding at the backs of her fists, and finally is a pair of red tabi-esque boots with black soles and black bands around her legs.

"Tell me about it! And what's worse was both our faces were gnarled up back then!" The woman, Wanda Wilson, AKA Lady-Deadpool replied before reaching up and removing her mask to show completely unblemished, albeit still deeply tanned, skin along with bright blue eyes and long waist length blond hair. "Thank god I lost the scars in that one issue of the comics!" She declared with a grin before posing as Deadpool randomly pulled a camera from his utility belt.

"**Yeah now that's what I'm talking about! Work the camera babe! It loves ya!"** The insane merc declared with a thumbs up, still taking his female alternates picture, while Liximawl nearly slammed his head into his laptop as Duela started laughing behind him and Gilgamesh shook his head.

"Are they always like this?" Gilgamesh questioned while Liximawl pulled his head up to look at the large man with a frown.

"Loud, obnoxious, and hopelessly random?" The black clad man questioned while leaning his cheek into an open palm and Gilgamesh silently nodded his head. "More or less… you should see his "Ultimate Technique" the Roshamboo some time…" Liximawl commented blandly while Duela then grabbed the tied-up Phil and dragged him away from Lady-Deadpool, who finally stopped posing for Deadpool and then smirked at the author.

"What's the matter Author-man, we too much for you to handle?" The buxom blond quipped with a wink and Liximawl twitched before pinching the bridge of his nose and muttering about idiots.

"Aw leave the poor guy alone Wanda… 'sides, we got more important things to do!" Duela declared loudly and Lady-Deadpool crossed her arms before nodding her head in agreement with the significantly younger girl.

"True, like get this place ready to be destroyed… oh yeah… and I'm going to take Deadpool here and go kidnap a couple Dead or Alive girls to fight for our amusement, so see ya!" Lady-Deadpool suddenly said before grabbing Deadpool, whose eyes glazed over as he registered what she said…

"**OH HELL YEAH!"** He declared before flipping up to his feet and placing a hand onto Lady-Deadpool's shoulder. **"This is going to be so fucking sweet! It's like Dead Fantasy for real around here! It's going to be so awesome baby!"** Deadpool exclaimed with a laugh before vanishing, Liximawl suddenly shivering before looking at his laptop with wide eyes.

"What horror have I unleashed upon the worlds?" He wondered, mostly to himself, and Duela popped up from the side and smirked at him.

"Deadpool and his alternate selves of course!" She declared loudly and Liximawl hung his head while rubbing his face.

"I should've just brought in Galactus… he'd be more merciful than who Deadpool's probably going to grab while he's out… and I don't want to know why Lady Deadpool felt the urge to grab some DOA girls!" Liximawl exclaimed and Duela gave the man a look for a moment before smirking.

"Dead Fantasy." She stated as if it explained everything, causing the man to blink before inclining his head.

"Oh right… it does make some sense then… though with her you never know." He admitted mostly to himself before looking to where Gilgamesh was dragging Herc, Phil, and Pegasus over to the side. "Now all we need to do is track down Meg so she doesn't go to Zeus… we should be okay as long as that doesn't happen, he'd fry us all in a few seconds…" Liximawl mused to himself and Duela flipped over the brown haired man with a grin.

"I'll go get her!" She declared before running off and leaving the man to palm his face and mutter under his breath as he returned to typing on his laptop…

TBC…

AN: The story told by the "Mysterious Voice" near the beginning of this chapter is the actual legend of Sparda, as told in the DMC3 Manga, thus I felt it most appropriate to use it. The fact it goes along so well with Kingdom Hearts is merely a coincidence…


	36. Revalations Pt2

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 35**_: _**Revelations Pt. 2**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(Temen ni gru…)

Naruto and Xion walked down many of the corridors of the grand tower, the blond frowning as he saw shadows start to slink and slither in front of them. _'Just great even more demons…'_ The blond haired teen thought to himself with a scowl as red eyes and silver scythes slowly became visible in the slinking mass of shadows. "Xion, stay behind me no matter what happens…" Naruto ordered while pulling Gloria and his silver short-sword out and twisting open the collapsible blade. Blinking but doing as told, Xion then widened her eyes as she saw the mass of shadows and scythes flow towards them, burning red eyes glowing brilliantly within its shadowy mass.

Smirking slightly, Naruto lunged forward and then swung both of his weapons, following his senses and cutting through the many strange demons. He saw as some appeared in their true forms for but the briefest of moments, before vanishing and leaving only their scythes behind as he continued to slice and slash through the oncoming mass of Demons. Ducking and avoiding their weapons while keeping himself as a shield to protect Xion, Naruto then swung both of his blades in a wide arc, slicing through more of the creatures when a large mass of black shadows came at him with an enormous scythe and single glowing blue eye.

What sounded like the wicked laughter of a women echoed out as the large demon came forward like a wave, swinging its scythe down on top of him. Crossing Gloria and his short-sword, the blond grunted as they barely managed to hold the demon back before pushing it back and knocking the demon off balance. Moving quickly, Naruto sliced upward with his short-sword, cleaving through the demon before swinging Gloria in a wide arc, taking its head off with a single swing. The shadowy demon gave off a strange wail as it fell back, Naruto falling into a crouch before groaning as he saw another mass of demons ahead of them.

"Xion, you better keep up if you want to stay alive." Naruto advised and the dark haired girl slowly nodded while the blond haired teen lunged forward with surprising speed, followed by the slower and younger dark haired girl. Swinging both of his normal blades through the demons, Naruto felt a strange sense of familiarity start to take hold before shaking it off as a trick. Flipping forward while still extending both of his blades, the blond then came out cutting another of the demons in half, landing in a low crouch while more demons lunged at him.

'_This is… fun?'_ The blond noted as a smirk crossed his lips while blocking the next attack with his short-sword and then swiped Gloria through that demon's throat. Stopping the next attack with one of the blades in his boots, Naruto then twisted around swinging his legs into a double kick to his sides, the blades in his boots slicing through two more demons as he then came down and blocked two more scythes with his weapons. _'Really fun!'_ The blond haired teen noted inwardly while grinning, his golden yellow eyes nearly glowing as he knocked back both demons and then swung his two blades, slicing them apart like those before it.

'_I love this!'_ Naruto thought to himself as even more of the strange shadowy creature lunged towards him. Twirling Gloria in his hand Naruto swung the weapon while twirling it, slicing through demon after demon before finishing off by swinging his short-sword, slicing cleanly through a demon. _'I'm absolutely crazy about it!'_ The blond haired teen inwardly declared while twirling Gloria in hand before tossing it forward, the small blade ripping through demon after demon before embedding itself into the far wall. Switching his Short-Sword to a reverse grip, the blond haired youth then lunged forward, swinging the blade through demon after demon and finishing by flipping into a kick, digging the blades in his boots into a demon's chest and kicking off of it.

Flipping back and landing in a low crouch, Naruto smirked while retracting the blades in his boots. Standing up and sheathing his short-sword, the blond then looked to a shocked Xion before grinning. "What's with the look? I am a trained Shinobi after all, this kind of stuff comes naturally to me." Naruto told the girl while walking over to Gloria, then flipped the blade back into its closed state before slipping it inside of his coat, Xion merely blinking as she stared at him.

"Shinobi?" She questioned with a raised brow and Naruto muttered something under his breath before pinching his nose with a frown.

"Yeah… maybe you'd know of it by the name "Ninja" then…" Naruto offered and saw a look of realization cross over Xion's features, making the blond inwardly sigh. _'I have to wonder, why wouldn't she know that as well? I mean, she has a Spellbinder of Knowledge like I do after all…'_ The blond wondered to himself for a moment before turning and opening a door, walking into a large room with treasure all around the room.

"Master, where exactly are we going?" Xion asked the blond haired teen and he looked at her for a moment before crossing his arms behind his back.

"I'm going to make certain that I avenge, The Shade's death." Naruto replied with a slight frown and Xion blinked for a moment while looking at him strangely.

"The Shade?" Xion questioned, having never seen the creature herself, and the blond haired teen nodded his head with a frown.

"A symbiotic being, it was bonded to me and killed in a fight against a powerful demon…" Naruto replied before sniffing the air and narrowing his eyes when he smelled something that didn't seem to belong. "And just when exactly were you going to show yourself?" Naruto questioned while looking up with a frown on his face, causing Xion to look up as well and see a woman sitting on a platform above them.

"I honestly didn't plan too at all." She replied plainly and then pushed herself off of the platform and landed on her feet from the impressive height. The woman was tall with pale skin and an athletic physique, her nails are painted black, while her eyes are a chilling blue color, and her long slicked back hair is a pale blond color. The woman was wearing something similar to a leather corset with a lightning bolt shape down the front and a zipper, a large wrist band on her left forearm, a pair of tight black leather pants with a belt synched around her waist, two guns holstered at the back of her waist, and knee length black leather boots.

"Jeez, it's official, every woman in the realm of Darkness, and on this world specifically, are probably hot." Naruto noted with a shake of his head, gaining a look from Xion while the woman rolled her eyes.

"Now then, I have a few questions and you're going to answer them." The woman then stated and got a look from Naruto in response.

"And just how do you plan on making me?" He asked with an amused grin and the woman swung her arm to the side, forming a massive crescent shaped sword that resembled soul-edge… "Good answer…" Naruto admitted with a blink while the blond haired woman leaned the massive sword along her shoulders.

"First of all, why were you talking to Gilver?" The woman questioned and Naruto considered his options, frowning as he felt the demonic power rolling off of the woman.

"He was giving me some information on the demon that killed The Shade…" Naruto replied and slowly looked at Xion before nudging her and motioning for her to get out of the way. Nodding silently, the dark haired girl moved to the side of the room while Naruto kept his eyes locked onto the blond woman.

"I see, then I suppose you're working with him then?" She questioned while circling around the blond haired teen, Naruto slowly pulling his silver-short-sword from the back of his waist and twisted it into a reverse grip.

"Not really, but he did tell me tell me where the guy I'm looking for might be…" Naruto replied in an offhand way, the blond woman frowning as he did and shot a pointed look at him.

"Really now, so that's how it is then…" The woman mused before pulling one of her guns out and taking a shot at Naruto, the blond swinging his short sword to deflect the bullet and catching the woman's immediate attention. _'I've only seen one other person deflect a shot like that… Gilver.'_ She noted before narrowing her eyes as darkness started to crawl along Naruto's body.

"Oi, looks like it's going to be another troublesome day…" Naruto mused before pulling Gloria from his coat and flicking it open, twirling it in hand while the blond haired woman narrowed her eyes for a moment. _'Gloria… why would he have that with him?'_ The blond haired woman wondered to herself before letting out a huff as lightning started to arch along her arms and body, catching Naruto's attention. She then twirled her gun in hand before firing off a bolt of lightning at the blond, Naruto mentally cursing while lunging out of the way. Smirking to herself then woman swung the enormous sword she was carrying, causing it to extend and change into a scythe before she hurled it at and then lunged towards the younger blond.

Widening his eyes in shock, Naruto rolled under the large scythe blade once and then ducked to the side as it moved like a boomerang, returning to the blond haired woman's grip. Swinging her weapon at the blond as she approached she smirked slightly as he rolled out of the way and formed a ball of dark-fire into his left hand. Swinging his arm and sending the ball of fire at the woman, Naruto then frowned as she merely blocked with the blade of the enormous sword. _'There's something really suspicious about that sword…'_ Naruto couldn't help but think to himself and then widened his eyes while focusing on the Demonic-Aura's in the room.

The woman, oddly enough, had a brilliant golden colored demonic aura, the feeling it gave off being like any other, a sense of fear and foreboding. However, the blade she was handling so roughly had an entirely separate aura from her own! And if that wasn't strange enough, it was even stronger than the woman's formidable aura as well! The aura of the blade was a deep purple color, specks of black and red flowing through it, the sense it gave off being one of sheer terror, not a sense of fear, but rather it gave off one of a completely terrifying being of darkness, one that had the power to drown all life in blackness.

'_I don't know where she got that sword, but I know for a fact that no demon should ever have it.'_ Naruto thought to himself with a shiver as he gazed at the blade for a moment longer, then ducked as the blond woman nearly took his head off. _'Jeez, look at her sword later, concentrate on surviving now!'_ Naruto mentally shouted at himself while lunging at the woman and swinging both of his weapons at her mid-section, only for her to vanish in a flash of golden light and reappear behind him. Turning around to face her quickly, Naruto then moved out of the way as the woman lunged at him, her blade extending into a lance as she did so.

'_Seriously! What kind of sword is that?'_ Naruto had to wonder as it made him think more and more of Soul-Edge, though the Shape-Shifting sword wasn't quite as powerful as the one held in the woman's grip. However before he could think on the matter more, the woman slung the blade onto her back while pulling her second gun out and began to fire both at the blond haired teen with a smirk. Cursing under his breath, Naruto ducked and dodged around several bullets empowered with lightning before idly checking to see that Xion was all right. The said girl was currently hiding behind a pile of gold, though seemed unharmed, so the blond returned to his current predicament.

'_Maybe if I can get that sword away from her, I can actually get close enough to take her down…'_ Naruto thought to himself while the woman then twirled her handguns before holstering them and running towards Naruto. Ducking down, then woman then raised her leg up into a kick to his midsection before flipping back to knock him further up into the air. Grunting as she did, Naruto kept an eye on her as she pulled the massive sword from her back. _'Now!'_ He inwardly exclaimed while throwing his short-sword and knocked the enormous sword out of her hand and into the air. The weapon twirled in midair for a moment, before then embedding itself in the ground away from the two.

"Ha! Now lets see how tough you are without that sword!" Naruto exclaimed as he righted himself in midair and landed on his feet, and then lunged at the woman with Gloria. Seeing the younger blond coming right for her, the blond haired woman then grabbed his wrist as he approached and threw him into the air before bringing her leg down on his midsection and pinning him to the ground with her heeled boots. "Still pretty damn tough…" Naruto muttered with a light groan and the blond haired woman narrowed her eyes on him before looking to the side and pulling both of her guns from the back of her waist.

Following her gaze, Naruto cursed when he saw Nelo-Angelo appear in a flash before lunging for the massive sword the woman had been wielding. Cursing at the thought of the creature wielding the powerful weapon, Naruto quickly used a Dark-Corridor and came at Nelo from above, kicking him in the face. However the demon merely growled while swinging his sword into Naruto, knocking the blond away as he quickly approached the sword. The blond woman then took that moment to open fire on the demon, however he merely twirled his blade around in a circle to deflect the bullets before throwing it into the air.

Reaching his hand out to take hold of the massive sword, the demon was stopped by a boot to the chest from the blond woman. She then quickly yanked the blade out of the ground and swung it, knocking Nelo back while Naruto came from behind and stabbed Gloria through the back of his armor, more than a little surprised when the weapon actually managed to piece the hard as rock armor. Roaring out in pain, Nelo then reached back and grabbed Naruto by his hair, then twisted around and threw him into the blond haired woman causing them both to be knocked back.

Reaching up a hand, Nelo then caught his own falling sword before growling as he vanished in a flash of fire. Groaning lightly, Naruto then grunted as a now very annoyed blond haired woman quickly shoved him to the side. "What the hell was that for?" Naruto asked weakly while pushing himself up, grimacing when he felt the new jagged slice through his midsection, curtsey of Nelo-Angelo's serrated sword. Not answering Naruto for a moment, the blond haired woman looked to her sword for a moment before placing it on her back with a sigh.

"So, he's after the power of Sparda again… it figures, without Mundus to control him he'd go back to his old ways." The woman mused before looking at Naruto and tilting her head when she saw pure Darkness flow out of the jagged gash around his midsection, slowly mending the massive wound that would've killed any normal human. "So then, I take it your not working with Nelo." The woman mused aloud and Naruto shot the woman an annoyed look in response.

"Of course not! He's the one that killed The Shade!" Naruto replied and the woman frowned for a moment before rubbing her chin.

"I see… then I suppose I should apologize for starting that fight. When I saw you talking to Gilver, I figured you were in league with him against Dante… in any case, my name is Trish." The woman offered while holding out a hand to her fellow blond, Naruto warily taking the offered hand and giving a light shake. "Now then, where'd you get Gloria from?" Trish then questioned while pointing at the knife as Naruto collapsed it and stuck it back into his coat.

"A woman named Lady gave it to me cause my keyblades don't seem to have any affect on Demons here." Naruto replied and the woman blinked before frowning deeply at that tidbit of information.

"I see… so that's what Gilver was so interested in…" She mused aloud, and thus also gaining a confused look from the blond haired youth. "Never mind, lets just say you shouldn't trust Gilver. While he's more honorable than most Demon's you'll meet, he's still a devil at heart." Trish warned and Naruto slowly nodded his head in agreement with the woman, aware of how demons and devils like to turn on those that helped them. "In any case, I'm going to go look for Dante and Lady, and since I know Lady is alive, I'll look for her first." Trish decided while walking away and causing a confused look to cross Naruto's features.

"Why not look for this "Dante" guy first?" Naruto questioned and a sly smirk crossed the blond haired woman's lips.

"Because knowing Dante, he's not only alive, but having a blast killing demons and devils left and right… and Lady is my best friend, so that doesn't hurt any either." The blond haired woman replied before walking off and vanishing into a bright golden flash of light, Naruto rubbing the back of his neck as she went.

"Master!" Xion cried out while running over to Naruto the blond smirking as she slid to a halt before him. "Are you okay!" She demanded while looking to the still healing gash through his mid-section with wide eyes. "How are you still breathing?" The girl then demanded while Naruto looked down to the hole in his mid-section with a bored expression, then rolled his eyes.

"It's called the Spellbinder of Regeneration, it allows me to heal from pretty much any kind of physical damage." Naruto explained to the dark haired girl while Xion merely continued to stare at him for a moment before letting out an annoyed huff.

"Why do I even bother worrying?" She wondered aloud to herself while Naruto rolled his eyes and stretched out his arms over his head. Looking around for a moment, the blond then motioned for Xion to follow him as he made his way out of the room and looked around. Frowning to himself, the blond then headed towards the nearest staircase so he could begin climbing up towards the "Seal-Chamber" as Gilver had called it…

(?)

A clock ticks slowly, the echoing tick tock never ending for even a second, numerous keys and pendants swinging slowly in a large dark room… _"Come now, Alice its only a dream…"_ A calm collected voice echoes out endlessly while a familiar girl sits in a chair, her eyes blinking only slightly.

"It's not a dream, it's a… memory." Alice replies while sitting across from a large green skinned man, holding a knife, which she keeps hidden under the table. "And it makes me sick!" Alice declared as the man and her both raise a cup in greeting, only for the man across from her to discreetly pull lever, activating a saw blade behind her.

"_Focus, wait… you're floating again."_ The man's voice echoed out once more, causing the scene to vanish into smoke. _"Weightless…"_ He continued, as a small ocean seemed to form and pass, followed by numerous playing cards. _"A cipher…"_ The voice continued to drone on in its ever-calm collected tone. _"Relax."_ The voice advised only for the scene to change, showing a war, Card-Guard fighting and a vision of the Queen of Hearts sitting upon her throne.

"Here… I… I'm in hell!" Alice declared while the scene of the queen of hearts was surrounded by fire while approaching her. Alice suddenly feeling weightless as she seems to fly into The Queen of Hearts mouth, where the face of the Mad Hatter awaits her and opens up as well…

"_Forget it! Abandon that memory, its unproductive."_ The man ordered calmly while Alice watched as her own face appeared and fell down its open mouth. _"Go to Wonderland Alice."_ The man ordered as Alice felt her mind try to do as ordered to by the calm kind voice.

"I… I can't." Alice replied as she felt her mind slip back to horrible memories, herself at a tender seven and a half years old, watching as her home was burned away. "I'm trapped… in my past." The girl explained to the voice as she found herself walking down a familiar street, only her vision was blurred, people from her past appearing before her eyes…

"_**My god this girl is badly burned!"**_ One voice cried out.

"_**Call for a doctor!"**_ Another came frantically while she continued to march forward, clasping tightly to an old rabbit doll in her arms.

"_**Will she be alright?"**_ A final voice questioned while Alice could swear she saw a watch and a bull headed man appear before her…

"_No Alice! Discard that delusion! Forget it! Go to Wonderland."_ The calm kind voice ordered once more, and Alice found herself slowly walking through her wonderland once more.

"I'd rather not, my wonderland is shattered… its dead to me." Alice replied while hugging herself as she walked through the familiar terrain in Wonderland.

"_Your preference doesn't signify girl."_ The man replied in a no nonsense tone, Alice's body swirling into a flash of feathers as he did. _"Now Alice, where are you?"_ The man questioned of her once more and Alice slowly opened her eyes and found herself sitting on a large lily pad, The White Rabbit sitting across from her, a tea-set set out between them.

"I'm sailing… with a friend!" Alice suddenly declared happily while looking to Rabbit and smiling fondly to herself. "Hmmm… it's different somehow, things have changed." Alice noted while picking up a cup of tea and taking a sniff of the calming scent of the warm cup of tea.

"_Change is good. It's the first link in the chain of forgetting."_ The man's voice came out once more while Alice looked to Rabbit and noticed something was off about him almost instantly.

"What's happening… are you mad?" Alice questioned of both Rabbit and the man who was talking to her.

"_I'm not mad."_ The voice replied in clear confusion while Alice reached out for Rabbit, who was bleeding from his mouth.

"Rabbit?" Alice questioned with clear concern in her voice.

"_That's not right… what's he doing?"_ The voice wondered aloud while Alice looked at Rabbit with wide eyes as the blood continued to flow from his mouth.

"There's something wrong." Alice declared while backing away from Rabbit as one of his eyes popped out and his head started to bend backwards.

"_**There's… something… wrong…"**_ A demonic voice echoed out from Rabbit as blood started to spurt out like a fountain, completely covering Alice.

"N-not that!" Alice whispered with wide fearful emerald green eyes, as the small stream she'd been in before quickly became an ocean of blood.

"_Don't struggle Alice, let the new Wonderland immerge."_ The calm voice from before echoed out while Alice found herself sitting on the lily pad in the middle of the vast ocean of blood, drenched from head to toe in blood herself.

"Pollution… corruption… it's killing me! Wonderland is destroyed! My mind is in ruins!" The girl declared while hugging herself as numerous hands started to reach out of the bloody waves for her.

"_Forget it Alice, block that dream, awaken at the sound of…"_ The man started to say even as hands reached out of the blood and pulled Alice into its depths, their fingers feeling as if they were digging into her flesh as they dragged her screaming into the bloody waves below…

Alice felt her eyes suddenly bolt open while sitting up and then backpedaled while looking every which way for the bloody hands that had been grasping at her before. "N-Naruto?" She asked while looking for her friend, whom she also seemed to turn to whenever she was feeling scared or frightened recently. "A-are you here?" The dark auburn haired girl questioned while looking around herself, stopping when she noticed the strange world she was in. It was a simple field, flowers nearby and what looked like a house with rabbit ears nearby…

"Wonderland?" She wondered to herself before hearing a hum and slowly picked herself up, only to look around warily. She was insane, she knew this much, but she had almost instantly realized this wasn't HER Wonderland… which meant one of two things, A, she had somehow entered into the realm of light and found the Wonderland from that side, as Xion had mentioned it to her. Or B, she had somehow landed on a separate Wonderland in the worlds of Darkness, which was much more unlikely in her own personal opinion.

Walking towards where she heard the humming, the dark-auburn haired girl instantly noted that while her Wonderland looked "Mad" and this one matched her childhood memories, it also seemed somehow… brighter. She also noticed that it was a lot emptier than the Wonderland she had visited as a child, with less colorful characters around to pester her or cause her untold grief. She also noticed it seemed a slight bit less mad than the world she had visited, but only slightly, as the feeling of madness was still hovering in the very air around her.

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense, nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't, and contrariwise, what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would." A small accented voice noted mused aloud before giggling softly, Alice twitching at the sheer madness of the statement. _'If I had a world of my own, eh? Humph. Well I do have a world of my own, but I wouldn't want it to be anything like that. No, not at all! It is like that, but not cause I want it to be!'_ The dark auburn haired girl thought to herself as she walked into a field of flowers and saw a young girl lying in the flowers with a soft smile on her lips.

The girl was "Cute" by definition, with shoulder length blond hair that was the same shade as Naruto's hair, a youthful body, looking barely in her teens, and as she opened her eyes, Alice noted they were a brilliant azure blue, again, exactly like Naruto's. She was wearing a familiar blue dress with a white pinafore over it, the ribbon holding the pinafore on being fairly large; she also wears white stockings, black mary-janes, and a black hair band that made a bow on the top of her head. "Then again, I suppose I got my wish, but it's not at all like I thought it'd be…" The girl mused while continuing to stare at the clouds and Alice's nose crinkled up before crossing her arms.

"It'd be nothing but utter and complete nonsense." Alice stated and caught the girl's attention, causing her to sit up and blink before smiling.

"Oh… excuse me miss, but who might you be?" The girl questioned and Alice twitched slightly at the "Rude" question from the younger girl.

"I believe it is proper to first introduce oneself before asking another their name." Alice replied and the blond girl blinked before slowly nodding her head in agreement as she pushed herself up and brushed off the back of her dress.

"Yes I suppose you are right, do excuse my rudeness miss." The girl pleaded and Alice had the strangest feeling she'd heard someone say something similar. "Anyways, my name is Alice, it's a pleasure to meet you." The girl then supplied with a curtsy and Alice widened her eyes for a moment before staring at the blond.

"My name is also Alice…" She offered quietly while looking as the blond smiled brightly and walked over to her.

"Really? Oh how strange, though I don't suppose it should be so surprising, I can't be the only Alice in the world, now can I?" The blond girl mused aloud while circling around the older Alice, said girl looking at her with a noticeable twitch. "Oh, and I positively adore this lovely red dress of yours." The younger Alice then said while holding the fabric of her dress, causing the older girl to blink.

"Wait… red?" She questioned before looking at herself and widening her eyes in shock at what she was seeing. Her new dress had an extremely intricate design that included various shades of reds, blacks, and whites, with various hearts, diamonds, and even a checker board pattern designed into it, a golden necklace around her neck ending in an omega shaped pendant, an apron around her waist with a black heart and astronomical symbols on it held on by a black ribbon tied into a large bow and held down by a heart shaped skull, her hands and arms are covered by black gloves with red around her forearms, black and white striped stockings, and her familiar black boots with buckled bands up their length.

"Wait… where did this dress come from?" The dark auburn haired girl wondered before twirling in place as she continued to look over her new dress. Frowning, as she couldn't think of where it came from, though shivered, as it resembled the one worn by the Soulless form of The Queen, Alice then crossed her arms with a frown. "No, I don't like this at all. I don't know where this dress came from, nor do I know why I'm wearing it, if I had a choice I wouldn't…" She stated with a nod of her head while the younger Alice blinked while looking at the older girl strangely.

"Are you mad? You talk very much like one of the Mad." She questioned of the older girl warily and Alice silently crossed her arms and smirked.

"We're all mad here." Alice replied seriously and saw the blond shiver before pouting somewhat cutely.

"Don't talk like Cheshire puss, please…" The younger Alice pleaded, surprising the dark auburn haired girl once more. "Then again, I don't suppose you know Cheshire Puss, he's so annoying vanishing as he does at the most inopportune time." The younger Alice noted with a sigh and the dark-auburn haired girl growled low in her throat.

"Cheshire puss is a wise cat who knows when and when not, to stick his neck out." The Older Alice stated darkly and the young blond blinked before shaking her head and stretching out her arms with a yawn.

"Well I prefer my dear Dina, she's a much better listener for one." The younger Alice started to say while walking off and continuing in a semi-rant, the older Alice following slowly and only half listening to her as her mind went to work. _'She's an Alice, as am I, but she's blond like from dear mister Carrol's book… how strange. Wait a tic, Naruto mentioned his "Other" a brown haired boy named Sora in the world of Light… if he's Naruto's Other, then would this girl be my…'_ Alice started to inwardly question before feeling a sudden weight on her shoulders, thus looked to see her Cheshire-Cat standing on her shoulders and narrowing its eyes onto the younger Alice, still grinning as always as it did…

"It's time to put your blade to work…" The Cheshire-Cat uttered sinisterly and Alice felt a cruel smirk cross her lips as she slowly reached back and pulled out The Vorpal Blade from her ribbon. The girl looked at her reflection in the blade for a moment before running a finger along it's length, drawing a low metallic sound out as she stalked towards her "Lighter" counterpart from behind with it…

(Temen-ni-gru…)

Naruto and Xion had been wandering around the massive tower for what was starting to feel like forever. Not only that but the constant walking and occasional traps / puzzles they had been encountering were starting to annoy them both. Even the few times that Demon's would show up didn't really amuse Naruto anymore. As they continued to walk through the tower, Naruto saw a large pair of doors and frowned when he noticed that they were both left partially open. "Stay out here." Naruto whispered to Xion and the girl slowly nodded her head as she stopped at the door of the room. The said room as large with numerous grooves in the floor leading to a large circular hole in the center.

However standing at the center of the room with his back turned to Naruto was none other than the green clad swordsman, Gilver. "You finally make it… I was starting to wonder if you'd be able to find this place without more help…" Gilver noted while not turning to face Naruto, the blond frowning towards Gilver's back.

"Gilver, I was wondering when we'd run into you again." Naruto noted while forming No-Heart into one hand, and then walked forward while pulling Gloria from his pocket and twirling it around in hand. "So care to explain why you called yourself Nelo-Angelo earlier?" Naruto questioned with a frown and Gilver turned around and his glowing red eyes gazed out towards him with clear amusement.

"So, when did you figure it out?" Gilver questioned of the blond while tilting his head to one side, Naruto frowning as he looked at the man.

"Your sword has the same energy lines as Nelo-Angelo for one, for another, you both have red eyes, you both appear and disappear in a burst of Dark-Fire, Trish seemed to know you and was surprised I was hunting Nelo-Angelo when she saw that I talked to you, and finally… you just told me." Naruto replied before grinning at the end and making Gilver twitch before placing his hand onto his sword. "So, what's with all the deception?" Naruto questioned with an even tone, Gilver merely closing his eyes as the blond haired youth glared at him angrily.

"Quite simple really, I couldn't draw out Trish on my own, she knows me and is more than wary of me, she'd instantly seek out Dante for assistance against me. As such and unable to much more, I figured you would encounter her on your way to find me, and somehow remove my father's sword from her grip, at which point, I would claim it as my own. I knew you'd at least survive long enough to do so after I battled you earlier, you're just too damn stubborn to die." Gilver explained in a monotone with a wave of one arm, Naruto scowling as he gripped No-Heart's hilt tightly.

"So then I'm a means to an end for you. You know what… that really pisses me off." Naruto noted while glaring at the bandaged demon and Gilver chuckled under his breath. Dark energy then began to form around Gilver as he unsheathed his blade and held it out at his side with a smirk. As he did, Naruto felt The Darkness crawl up his legs and then over his entire body, soon obscuring the majority of his form from view.

"No, you're not even that much to me, all you are to me, is a mere pawn." Gilver replied before throwing his swords sheath to the side and gripping the hilt of his blade with both hands. "Now then… seeing as you know the truth, I should give you some new incentive to bring me my fathers sword." Gilver decided as with a flash of purple energy an array of seals formed a dome around his body, and Nelo-Angelo burst his way out a second later with a roar and chuckled while Naruto's Dark-Armor solidified over his form and The Red-Seeker twirled Gloria and No-Heart.

"I'll show you a fucking pawn!" Naruto roared out as he lunged at Nelo-Angelo and swung No-Heart, Nelo blocking the attack the attack with his own blade. Growling Naruto then twisted around and stabbed Gloria through the back of his armor and held on as Nelo thrashed about for a moment before grabbing and throwing him off of his back. Landing on his back Naruto looked up and rolled out of the way as Nelo brought his blade down where he had been a mere second before. Flipping to his feet Naruto dismissed No-Heart and swung his arm with a roar, his eyes widening as his Dark-Armor slithered out into a black tendril with a large red spike that slammed into Nelo's side.

"Whoa, that's new…" Naruto whispered as the tendril shrank back down into his suit before a grin stretched across his features. "But I think I can get used to it!" He declared while swinging both arms out, both shifting into large black tendrils with crimson red spikes jutting from them. However Nelo saw them coming and easily evaded both before grabbing them with one hand. Laughing to himself, Nelo then lifted Naruto and slammed him down into the ground by the tendrils. However Nelo then grunted as one slithered out from Naruto's shoulder and slammed into his face, causing him to release the blond who twisted into a spin, sweeping him off his feet as he did.

Pushing himself into a jump, Naruto landed on his feet before roaring out as he swung both arms outwards, causing them to form massive ax heads on their ends. _'Wow, I really need to figure out what all my powers over Darkness let me do sometime…'_ Naruto decided as he brought both axes towards Nelo only for him to raise his arms and block the attack with his forearms. Chuckling once more, several ethereal blue swords then formed around Nelo and made Naruto widen his eyes. "Oh shit…" He muttered as Nelo sent the blades flying towards him, the blond retracting his arms in order to dodge the Summoned-Swords.

However as soon as he did, Nelo lunged forward, lashing out at Naruto with his massive sword, the blond barely dodging the attacks before blocking with No-Heart. Gritting his teeth against the raw strength of the demon he was fighting Naruto felt his arms bulk out of their own accord before shoving back on No-Heart, knocking Nelo off balance. The brief opening was all Naruto needed as he lunged forward with a swing of No-Heart. However Nelo scoffed as a ring of Summoned-Swords appeared around his waist and blocked Naruto's attack before the blond flipped back and landed in a slight crouch, Nelo chuckling darkly as he did.

"**C'mon!"** Nelo's voice echoed out darkly with a wave of one arm and Naruto twirled No-Heart in hand before it formed onto his foot. Smirking beneath his helm, Naruto then lunged forward and jumped into a kick with the weapon to Nelo's own helmeted head. Grunting only slightly, Nelo stumbled back while Naruto stabbed Gloria into his chest-plate. However Nelo only chuckled once more and slapped the blond away, unaffected by what should have been a fatal blow. Skidding across the ground after the attack, Naruto flipped himself back onto his feet before falling back into a Dark-Corridor and appearing above Nelo with No-Heart at the ready.

Swinging his weapon down at Nelo, Naruto wasn't surprised in the least when the demon evaded his swing. However the blond took that moment to grab Gloria and kick off of his chest, ripping the blade out of Nelo with a spurt of blood. Stumbling forward for a moment, Nelo then snapped his fingers and a ring of Summoned-Swords appeared around Naruto before all flowing inwards on the blond, slicing into and through his entire midriff. Grunting as he fell to the ground, Naruto widened his eyes seeing his entire lower section removed from his body before he felt his powers twist and the Darkness pulled his severed pieces back together again.

Grunting once he was back in one piece, Naruto pushed himself back to his feet and turned to Nelo. However the massive demon grabbed him a second later before slamming him into the ground. Gritting his teeth in pain, Naruto managed to kick Nelo, No-Heart changing into a single grieve as he did so, yet the beast only chuckled as it then gripped his chest with one hand. Placing a foot down on Naruto as he did, Gilver then twisted his wrist and ripped Naruto's Dark-Armor off of his body forcibly. As soon as he did the blond gave a shriek of pain before being kicked away by the demon. Grunting in pain, Naruto managed to use Dark-Heart as leverage and push himself up to his feet.

Looking to Nelo he saw it chuckle darkly before crouching down and lunging forward with a backhand to the face. Nelo then grabbed Naruto by his ankle before swinging him back first into the wall, then twisted around and slammed him into the ground. Flipping back, Nelo then formed a dozen Summoned-Swords, one set above Naruto one set below him, and all of them then sliced into the blond haired youth. Spitting up blood, Naruto briefly wondered how much his Spellbinder of Regeneration could heal him before it just stopped when Nelo then started to fire individual Summoned-Swords at him.

Rolling out of the way of the blades, Naruto then managed to come out in a crouch as Nelo leaned his sword against his shoulders, his form shifting back into that of Gilver as he did so. "So is this really the best you can do?" Gilver questioned while walking towards Naruto and the blond glared at him furiously. "A pity, I was actually hoping for something of a challenge." Gilver mused before smirking as he caught Xion coming at him with her Keyblade from behind.

"Xion no!" Naruto gritted out before grimacing in pain as Gilver looked from Xion to Naruto for a moment and then chuckled.

"Bring me my father's sword, and you can have this back. Until then, I'll be on the roof…" Gilver offered before vanishing with Xion in a quick burst of Dark-Fire, while Naruto was forced to look on. Groaning under his breath, Naruto dug the tip of No-Heart into the ground and pushed himself up to his feet with panting breaths. As he did, Naruto heard footsteps and quickly looked to the side only for his eyes to widen as Void-Gear was suddenly lodged into his chest.

"Well what do you know, I come here to get my heart back, and someone goes and weakens you for me." Vanitas noted to himself before grabbing Naruto by his throat and lifting him up into the air. Looking down with one eye, Naruto then watched on as Vanitas' helmet slowly melted away to reveal someone who looked like Sora, only with black hair, yellow eyes, and a noticeable taint of darkness.

"S-Sora?" He questioned and Vanitas laughed for a moment a memory pricking the back of Naruto's brain yet still not forming when he did.

"No way am I that loser!" Vanitas replied with a grin before rearing his arm back and ripping a heart out of Naruto while also dropping the blond when he did. "My name is, Vanitas." The Black Haired Unversed stated while reaching out to grip the heart he'd removed from Naruto in his bare hand. "And I'm here to take back what's rightfully mine." Vanitas stated while placing the heart into his chest, and then smirked as the white portions of his suit suddenly exploded and formed a bright crimson red, his half-skirt changing to black with red trim along with them.

"W-Why… did you…" Naruto tried to ask however he felt his mind start to go hazy, while Vanitas smirked and knelt down before him.

"Nothing personal, I just want my heart back. Oh… and Gears of Madness too." Vanitas added as he reached towards Naruto, the said keyblade forming into his hand as he twirled it around for a moment and then smirked down at the injured blond. "Here, you can keep this lame knockoff." Vanitas offered while tossing Void-Gear at the blond, then leaned the crimson and black blade into his shoulders. "Yeah, I got my ass kicked and I was getting sick of not being able to regenerate my power as quickly so I figured I'd take back my heart." Vanitas explained while Darkness started to rise up and wrap around Naruto from all sides.

"N-No I… I have to save Xion…" Naruto whispered and Vanitas shook his head while standing up and watching on silently as the blond began to fade away.

"Pal, where you're going, that's the least of your problems." Vanitas stated as Naruto felt his eyelids grow heavy, Vanitas turning his back on the blond and looking up for a moment. "Now then, I should probably go and pay Sora a visit to get Ven's heart back… and then kick Aqua's cute little ass for last time." Vanitas mused to himself while Naruto completely fell into The Darkness, nothing but blackness as far as he could see…

(?)

Naruto found himself floating down through the darkness, his eyes cloudy as memories of his life started to fade away. Memories of his time as a Ninja vanished first, and then even Ventus's memories began to fade away soon after. The blond soon landed back first on a circular platform, his eyelids heavy and the darkness rising up to consume him from all sides… _"What can I do to help him…"_ He heard a woman's voice question urgently even as he felt his eyes slowly seal shut.

"_**What are you willing to give up in order to save him from, The Darkness?"**_ A man's voice questioned as the tendrils of darkness began to wrap around his body started to pull him down into its depths.

"_Anything! I'll do anything, I'll give anything, just please don't let this happen!"_ The woman's voice came once more and the blond felt a pair of clawed hands reach into The Darkness and grip his biceps, halting his decent.

"_**Would you even give up your heart for this boy? Your soul, you're very being itself? Would you abandon any and all hope of becoming a Somebody, or even an Other again?"**_ The man's voice questioned of the woman as Naruto was pulled out of The Darkness by the owner of the clawed hands and brought into a gentle hug against what felt like a woman's body…

"_Y-Yes… to save him from this fate… to save my Sochi from The Darkness… then I'd even give up my heart and soul to The Darkness! 'tebane!"_ The woman's voice declared loudly while Naruto himself slowly opened his eyes to see a black female creature holding him, one that vaguely resembled The Shade…

"_**I see, and I admire your conviction. And it seems what they say is true, that a mother's love, is truly more powerful than even The Darkness…"**_ The man's voice echoed out endlessly while Naruto felt his fingers twitch and looked up, the feminine creature that resembled The Shade vanishing as he did so. Looking around for a moment, Naruto found himself back within The Awakening he'd entered so long ago, however a massive chunk of the stained-glass tower had been ripped away…

"So… this is, my heart?" Naruto wondered while looking at the missing chunk of his heart and closed his eye when he saw that it was breaking apart even now, slowly fading away from him. "I see… Vanitas and I, are one and the same, but if that's true… then who am I now?" Naruto wondered to himself as he gazed into the endless abyss that surrounded The Awakening on all sides. "What do I do now…?" Naruto wondered while suddenly looking up into the heavens with a blank look on his face.

"Perhaps, you could listen to your heart." A familiar old voice commented and Naruto turned to see the familiar face of Master-Xehanort standing behind him, wearing a Black-Coat much like Naruto's own…

"M-Master?" Naruto questioned while pushing himself up to his feet and then stumbled for a moment before Xehanort caught him and shook his head.

"Don't be so over eager m'boy I'm not going anywhere, and you've taken quite a trouncing today." Master-Xehanort said pleasantly and then helped Naruto sit down next to him, before they both stared out into the endless abyss around The Awakening.

"Why… are you here?" Naruto questioned softly, his eyes dark and empty looking to the aging master's eyes. Letting out a sigh, the aging master then leaned back and gazed upwards for a long while, before looking to Naruto with a sad smile.

"To correct my mistakes." He replied and then placed a hand onto Naruto's head and chuckled lightly as he saw a brief flash of doing so to Ventus. "I never really realized it myself, but Ventus, he was my legacy, someone that would carry on my teachings and knowledge, he was even… like a grandson to me, though I never had a family of my own…" Master-Xehanort noted aloud while looking out into the abyss and then chuckled with a shake of his head. "You go out as a Keyblade Master for so long, you forget to leave behind something so simple… a family, friends, people to carry on your memory forward forever… what a fool I was." Master-Xehanort explained before closing his eyes and bowing his head, Naruto looking at him dully.

"As such, you should not be so surprised that I left a small piece of myself, within Vanitas shell… one, that would help partially balance out the endless darkness and anger within him, and also to leave a piece of myself to go on should I have died in those days." Master-Xehanort explained before shaking his head for a moment. "Proportionally, it was a tiny piece of me, with no possibility of ever truly balancing out the Darkness within, Vanitas. That tiny little speck I left behind, was all that remained of my light… that tiny speck… that insignificant little part of me, is what you see now." Master-Xehanort explained before patting Naruto's shoulders the blond blinking his eyes up dully and gazing towards the old man silently.

"What's going to happen now?" Naruto questioned of the old man and Master-Xehanort rubbed his chin while closing his eyes silently. Thinking for only a short while, the old man then smiled down at Naruto with the oddest look on his face.

"Now you live, you move forward, you go on and save your friend… while I finally fade away into The Darkness of Kingdom Hearts, as I should have done a long time ago." Master-Xehanort started to say and then placed a hand onto Naruto's head before ruffling up his hair. "But, can you forgive an old fool, for what he did to you?" The aging master questioned of the blond and Naruto slowly nodded his head, Xehanort letting out a sigh of relief as he did. "Thank you, Ventus." He whispered while a glow started to surround his body, before he changed into a small sphere of light that then flowed into Naruto's chest where his heart would be.

As the sphere vanished, Naruto placed his hands to his chest and blinked at the sudden warmth as a familiar light came back to the blond's bright azure blue eyes. Blinking for a moment, Naruto then looked down to see a white portion form in his heart, a bit of light… just like the bit of Darkness within Sora's heart. Slowly pushing himself up to his feet, the blond then stared up into the darkness when a memory suddenly assaulted his mind, yet it was not one of Ventus' this time…

_(Past…)_

_A young man was walking around a plain, fairly Spartan room, which save for the enormous amount of books and training equipment, was devoid of almost anything save for a large comfortable bed. The said young man turned his chocolate brown eyes around the room for a moment before letting out a breath and using a hand to sweep his hair back from his brow. When he did he also caused it to arrange itself into backwards spikes, with a couple of stray bangs hanging forward over his forehead. Walking over to his closet, the young man pulled out a fairly normal outfit before quickly slipping it on and stretching out his arms into the air with a grunt._

"_I wonder what Master has for us to do to day?" The silver haired youth wondered aloud before holding out his right hand and forming a Keyblade in a brilliant flash of light. "While protecting the worlds is truly a worthwhile endeavor, I can't help but wonder if there is something… more, out there." The young man mumbled to himself before shaking his head and dismissing the weapon as he walked out of his room. Making his way down the many halls of The Land of Departures Castle, which he personally thought needed a name of its own, the silver haired youth soon walked into the throne room where his fellow pupil and master were training together._

_Watching for a moment, the youth smirked while crossing his arms behind his back and slowly walking into the room without a sound. Watching as the two combated one another, the youth saw that his fellow disciple had yet to even notice his presence. _'Fool, in a real battle one needs to keep a close watch on his surroundings.'_ The youth mused to himself before forming his own Keyblade once more, the vaguely angelic looking weapon pulsing slightly with power. Their master instantly noticed him, turning his eyes only slightly towards him before returning to training with the other, dark haired youth instead of acknowledging his presence._

_Their master flipped back to avoid a swing from his fellow disciple and then threw his arm forward, dozens of chains made of light shooting from the tip of his Keyblade and wrapping around his fellow disciple. Walking towards the battle as quietly as possible, he also watched on, as his fellow disciple broke free and lunged at their master once more. Walking up behind him as their master caught his blade with his own, the youth then slipped his arm around the other disciple with a smirk, his keyblade's edge inches away from his throat._

"_You should really watch your surroundings better… Erauqs." He warned darkly and his fellow disciple slowly held up his arms while their master let out a sigh. His fellow pupil is a deeply tanned skinned man with shoulder length spiky black in a short ponytail at the back of his head, bright brown eyes, and hold a lean build much like the silver haired youth's own. He wears a pair of beige hakama-esque pants with black / gold armored shoes, in place of a belt he wears blue and pale blue armor with a Keybearers symbol at the center, a sleeveless blue shirt with white bands overtop it, and a long white coat with a pale red interior and edges._

"_Indeed you should Eraqus, you show great skill with your key, and even greater heart for protecting the worlds… but you still lack the wisdom to be a truly great keyblade master." The old master stated with a shake of his head, Eraqus wincing as the old man was honestly like a grandfather to him. Rolling his own eyes, the youth pulled his arm back and dismissed his keyblade, Eraqus letting out a relieved sigh as he did so. Kneeling down, the youth then bowed his head to his master before looking up to him with a raised brow._

"_For what did you need to see us, Master?" The youth questioned, Eraqus kneeling down next to him silently, while their elderly master turned and walked over to sit on a throne, resting on it heavily as he did, the clear signs of his age not surprising either of them._

"_It is time for the two of you to finally obtain, your Keyblade armor." The man then admitted and Eraqus grinned towards the aging man while his fellow disciple frowned deeply._

"_Truly master? Does this mean we'll finally be allowed to go out and explore the other worlds as well?" Eraqus questioned with excitement in his tone, yet his fellow Disciple choose to remain silent as a different thought and question came to mind…_

"_Perhaps… but for the moment, obtaining your keyblade armor and learning how to use it is merely the next step in your training to become Keyblade Masters. Normally, it is the first step after obtaining your key, as Keyblade armor is able to adapt to its user and his key on a intimate level, both increasing your abilities, as well as protecting you from the Darkness in the Lanes Between." Their master explained and the youth sent him a pointed look in response to the answer._

"_If that's true master, then why is it only now that we obtain our armor?" Xehanort questioned and their master reached up to slowly rub his bearded chin before smiling at them both._

"_Unlike many past Keyblade Masters, Eraqus, you have family on your world, and I have little doubt you would've tried to go visit them had I not kept Keyblade Armor from you… but… as for you…" Their master explained to Eraqus first and then turned to look at the expectant young apprentice._

"_Wait a minute!" Eraqus stated, stopping their master from continuing and annoying the silver haired disciple greatly. "Why aren't I allowed to see my family? I thought Keyblade Masters were encouraged to care for people!" The dark haired youth demanded and their aging master sighed while stroking his beard tiredly._

"_That is true Eraqus, however you were just a child when I found your potential. I brought you to this world in hopes to make you a great Keyblade Master. But in your early stages, you were… distant. You missed your family too much, allowing you to go back there might have meant you wouldn't return to complete your training. I did not want you to end up yourself or others with your key, without knowing exactly what you could do with it and its powers." Their master explained and Eraqus frowned before slowly nodding his head as he saw the old mans point._

"_Thank you master, I… I don't know what I'd do if I hurt someone I cared about even by accident." Eraqus admitted while bowing his head deeply, his master's face softening while his old eyes crinkled closed._

"_Think nothing of it Eraqus, I know how difficult it has been these past years. But soon you'll be able to see your family again. Now, as for your fellow Discilple." Their master started while looking to the silver haired youth for a moment. "You unlike Eraqus, are an orphan with no family, and only your original world to return too, I thought it best for you to wait to obtain your armor so that Eraqus would not feel left out in his training, besides, I've been able to train each of you more in magic and styles as a result, thus readying you both for this day fully." The aging master explained and the silver haired youth considered his master's point for a moment._

"_I… see. Yes, in your position I don't doubt that I would do the same. Thank you for your honesty master." The silver haired youth said with a slight incline of his head, Eraqus rolling his eyes as he did._

"_Kiss up." Eraqus whispered and got an elbow to his ribs for his troubles, courtesy of his fellow disciple._

"_Enough Eraqus. And you are very much welcome, Xehanort." Their master stated while Eraqus and Xehanort still gave one another a look before bowing their heads to their master. "Now we begin, in order to obtain your Keyblade Armor, you must search deep inside for the protecting armor that you hold within your heart and soul. Do not be discouraged by failure, it does not mean you have no armor, but rather, that it hasn't yet formed within your heart and soul yet." The old man explained and Eraqus and Xehanort looked to one another for a moment before nodding their heads. Eraqus sat in a lotus style position with his hands resting on his knees, while Xehanort crossed his arms and legs, both closing their eyes to seek the armor within themselves as their master had explained._

_Xehanort soon found himself within a strange world, darkness seemed to swirl and twirl within it light was there as well, but seemed slightly less abundant than the darkness. "So this is my heart? Or, is it my soul?" The silver haired youth wondered to himself before frowning as he walked through the endless expanse of black and white within the strange realm he'd found himself. As he walked he brought a hand to his head when he heard a strange whisper and quickly turned, only to see that absolutely nothing was even there._

"_I'm getting too jumpy…" He mumbled before turning on his heel and making his way further and further into the strange realm. Soon enough, Xehanort raised a brow as he came to a throne sitting within this strange realm. Oddly enough however, the throne was mostly situated on the side of Darkness, just the barest of bits actually even touching the side of light. "That probably means something… I'll research it later." The silver haired youth decided while walking forward and then turning to sit within the old ivory throne, his eyes slowly closing as he did so._

_As he did, Darkness and Light began to crawl up and around his body, his features never changing even when he was completely covered in darkness. _'Now, how do I find my protecting armor?'_ Xehanort wondered of himself, as he had no family, Eraqus was his only friend, and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to protect his home world. _'I wish Master would have explained this better. Find The Protecting Armor within your Heart and Soul is too vague for my tastes. But, maybe he means to look for that which makes us feel safe?'_ Xehanort wondered to himself before that single word seemed to echo out in his mind almost endlessly. He'd been alone all his life, he'd had nothing, but… he wanted for something of him to last forever._

'What is it, what is it that has kept me safe? I never had a family, so it was never anything like that… it wasn't my world, nor was it my friends, as I'm the one always protecting Eraqus. Wait… yes, Knowledge, to learn, that has always been what has helped me all these years, from learning to build to learning the arts of The keyblade, to learn is my protecting armor!' _The silver haired youth thought to himself as his eyes suddenly snapped open, no both being a familiar amber gold color as the Darkness and Light flowed away and his armor fully formed over his body. Xehanort remained seated even when it did and then smirked to himself as he pushed himself up from his seat and crossed his arms over his chest._

"_What has made me feel safe… it's so simple. I feel safe, because I have learned enough to survive! My armor isn't a sword to attack, or a shield to defend, my armor is much more, it is a weapon to avoid my enemies all together. My armor, that which protects me, is none other than my mind." Xehanort declared with his arms into the air, even as the Darkness and Light swirled before he was expelled from the strange realm. Xehanort, found himself back in the Land of Deaparture, Eraqus was wearing a strange suit of armor that vaguely reminded of a samurai, but both he and their master were looking at him._

_Looking down, Xehanort saw his armor and then formed his Keyblade before tossing it forward, causing it to shift into a mirror. The armor had upside versions of the Keyblade wielder crest on his chest, knees, and feet, two white belts are synched around his waist over a pair of black pants, his hands are covered by talon like armor, with oblong armor covering his forearms, the pauldrons of his armor were large with fur on his right pauldron and a yellow crown on the left, the collar of his chest plate came up high, with a string of jewels connecting the two pieces of his chest plate, other than the upside down crests, his shoes were black with long armor over his lower legs._

_His helmet is stranger still, having a gold piece at the chin like some kind of goatee, a beak shaped piece forming off of the front with two "Wing" like shapes flowing back off of the helm, a jagged chin guard forming around most of the helm, a large golden crown overtop the helm, and black glass barely visible forming into the rest of the helm. Looking on in wonder, Xehanort raised an arm and touched the armor for a moment before forming his Keyblade and swinging the weapon, an arc of light flying from the blade and slicing a chunk of the floor away. "Incredible…" Xehanort whispered almost reverently as he looked upon himself, clad in his new keyblade armor._

"_Whoa nice armor, Xehanort." Eraqus stated while walking over to his friend, still clad in his own armor and both turned to look at their master. "Master, umm… do you think we could go visit our home worlds now that we have our armor?" Eraqus questioned and their master blinked for a moment before considering as he looked at Xehanort's new armor warily._

"_I… suppose that would be alright. But, don't be long, now your real training can begin. And remember, your armor also augments your Keyblades, allowing them to transform into many new shapes and forms." Their Master offered before forming his own key and holding it forward, a beam of light shooting from the tip between Xehanort and Eraqus and creating a portal at the end of the room. Smirking to himself, Eraqus threw his key forward, the weapon instantly forming into something vaguely reminiscent of a motorcycle, which he quickly hopped onto before gunning it and then flying into the portal on his own._

_Shaking his head, Xehanort threw his Key into the air, only for it to change and become something else as it attached to his back, now making it appear as if he had four wings. Flapping them for only a moment, Xehanort then took a step back before flying forward as well and made his way into the portal. Flying into The Lanes Between, Xehanort closed his eyes and allowed his heart to find the light of his original home world before smirking as a sense of familiarity finally overtook his body, and with a brilliant flash of light he was home…_

_Xehanort appeared on a beach on a small island in the middle of a vast ocean, a tree with star-shaped fruit resting upon an even tinier island to the side. "This place never changes…" He whispered to himself with a shake of his head, even as he saw the many palm trees and familiar scenery of his island home. Walking around for a short while, the silver haired youth then turned and made his way down the beach. His footprints in the sand forming beneath his boots as he soon slowed to a stop before looking out at the ocean silently, his shadow falling behind him…_

"_This world… is just too small."_

Snapping his eyes open, Naruto then fell to his knees as his hair turned dark Silver and The Shade formed behind him, looking down with what appeared to be worry on its face… _'Am I… am I becoming Master Xehanort?'_ Naruto wondered to himself before gritting his teeth and falling onto his side as yet another memory from the loss of Vanitas' Heart and the gaining of a piece of Master-Xehanort's heart flowed to the surface of his thoughts. Darkness gathered around the youth as he did, and then suddenly shot upwards, flowing into the sky of the realm that was his broken heart and soul… soon completely covering everything in an inky blackness from which their would be no escape…

_(Past…)_

_Master Xehanort looked behind him as Ventus sat down outside of The Archive they had found under The Broken Kingdom. __'It's just as well, such knowledge is not meant for, Ventus.'__ Master Xehanort decided before turning on his heel, arms folded behind his back and walked towards a large obelisk of some kind. "So, this is it, the legendary Archive, a compendium of all the worlds lost knowledge." Master Xehanort whispered before reaching up to stroke his Goatee and smirked to himself._

_Striding forward confidently, the aging Keyblade Master then held his own Keyblade towards The Archive. Concentrating on his weapon intently, the bald man then smirked as a beam of light flew from the tip of his weapon and into The Archive. "Yes, now I shall finally have the knowledge I have sought after for so very long." Xehanort whispered even as a sphere of light exited from The Archive, within it he could see something, yet, he could not properly describe it as it seemed to shift and change every few seconds._

_Slowly reaching out a hand, the wizened man held it towards the sphere and it slowly zipped over to his palm where he held it up. "So much knowledge in the palm of my hand." He whispered to himself while looking at the ever shifting and changing view within the tiny orb. Licking his lips, as they suddenly felt too dry, the old man then looked back towards the door to The Archive for but a moment. Pleased that Ventus was not watching him, Master Xehanort then slammed the sphere of light and knowledge into his chest, his eyes widening as it soon began to merge with his heart._

_Feeling his body spasm, Master Xehanort fell to his knees, then onto his hands as shaky breaths came out. His body shook, his heart beat faster and faster, blood seemed to be pumping all over his body. He became intimately aware of everything around him, and soon enough, the knowledge, the memories, all that he had sought for seemed to flow into his mind. And then, just as a state of euphoria began to wash over him, Master-Xehanort fell forward; passed out on the ground, completely limp._

_Master-Xehanort felt as he was shook, the cold stone floor beneath him only a second realization. "Master!" A word echoed in the recesses of his mind, or perhaps someone spoke, he couldn't tell, his mind was hazy, his body weak, feeble… a sneer marred his features. His body wasn't a body, it was becoming naught but a worthless vessel, hampering his continued pursuit of knowledge. "Master!" The voice was more urgent this time, and Master-Xehanort groaned lowly while opening a pair of bright yellow eyes to see his apprentice looking at him worriedly._

"_Ventus?" He questioned tiredly and the blond haired youth picked one of his arms up and helped him to his feet. Though he decided not to comment or frighten the boy, this displeased him greatly. In his youth, he had been someone to be respected; he had been strong, more powerful than anyone else. Though he was passed over for the position of Master of Land of Departure in favor of his fellow pupil Eraqus, he was always the more powerful between them… to need help getting up from a boy, even his own apprentice, only reasserted how feeble he was now._

"_Master, I know you told me not to come in but I… I thought something happened when I heard you fall and…" Ventus said in a frantic tizzy and Master Xehanort felt his right brow twitch before placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. He liked Ventus, he had such potential, but his heart was too frail… he couldn't truly or even properly train the boy because of it. If he could, he'd teach Ventus the ways of Darkness, show him the untold powers that it had too offer… yet he was just too weak._

"_Nonsense my boy, I'm just fine." Master Xehanort reassured and Ventus smiled towards his master visibly relieved that he was okay._

"_So where do we go from here then Master?" Ventus questioned and Master Xehanort crossed his arms behind his back and turned away from Ventus. That was a good question, one he hadn't contemplated before. Looking down to his hand, he couldn't help but sneer once more, feeling how his joints ached and his body slouched down in a noticeable bent fashion… what had happened to him? He had once stood perfectly straight, his shoulders once strong enough to bear any burdens, his muscles capable of performing any feat he needed! Now…_

_Now all he had left was his mind that was all that had remained strong, and seemed to grow ever stronger. But his body, it was weak, feeble… worthless. He needed a new body, one that could stand the test of time. And, as he thought of this, he also realized he had another task, The X-Blade, it was mentioned in The Archives, a weapon of great power. A scowl crossed his lips at that thought, Eraqus __**must**__ have known of it, it was after all, a Key to Kingdom Hearts, and as Guardian of The Balance, it was his fellow pupils duty to guard such a thing…_

"_We're going out to train my boy. I have something that I need to do." Master Xehanort replied simply while Ventus grinned and walked beside of his master as he led him through a Corridor, a dark look crossing his features as they did…_

Naruto felt the final memory fade away and slowly opened his amber gold eyes before pushing himself up to his feet and smirked. "Vanitas, if you truly believe that I'll let you take my heart, then you're sadly mistaken." The youth whispered while slowly rising up to his feet, No-Heart forming into one hand, another much less familiar key forming into his other. Twirling both Keyblades at his sides however, the youth then sent a mass of chains of darkness shooting up into the air, before they then reached out into the darkness and back out into the Temen-ni-gru. As they did they shot at Vanitas quickly wrapping themselves around the Dark-Armor wearing Unversed.

"What the hell?" He demanded before he was dragged into the Darkness and then left on the ground. Grunting for a moment, Vanitas pushed himself up and saw Naruto staring at him intently, his hair a familiar dark silver color, and his eyes an even more familiar amber gold. "Great its you…. But how are you even still alive?" Vanitas questioned with a chuckle while Naruto held out the new keyblade that had formed into his hand, giving Vanitas reason to pause.

The Keyblade overall is an ivory color in varied shades, excluding only the small dash of deep red in the teeth and the Keychain, and the black in the handle and hilt. The shaft begins in two from a small heart shape on the end connecting to the handle, much like Oathkeeper, joining halfway down and ending in a fleur-de-lis. The handle bears the design of fully outstretched, upward-pointing angel wings. The Keychain repeats the design of the teeth, which consist of a crimson heart with a portion broken off as if something were missing from it. Around it stretches an angel wing on the right side, opposite the broken side of the heart, on which side is a slightly darker-colored flowing crest. The Keychain resembles the teeth as a winged heart. (KH BBS: Lost Memory…)

"That key…" Vanitas whispered while Naruto smirked darkly and moved forward with blinding speed, appearing directly before s shocked and surprised Vanitas.

"Welcome home, Vanitas. Welcome back to my heart… you have something of mine, and I want it back." Naruto stated in an eerily calm voice and Vanitas took a swing at him with Gears of Madness, only for his eyes to widen as Naruto caught the attack with Lost-Memory and then twirled No-Heart before plunging it into his chest. Kicking Vanitas back as he physically ripped out the Unversed's heart from his body, Naruto then chuckled darkly while holding the darkness empowered at the end of his key, then looked to see Vanitas was still standing.

"So, you're a Sentiment, that explains why your more powerful than the original Vanitas… since your naught but emotion, you cannot hold anything back, you're putting your entire being into your blade and into everything you do with it." Naruto noted calmly before looking at the heart he'd removed from Vanitas and then dismissed Lost-Memory. Gripping No-Heart with both hands he then plunged it into his own chest, forcing Vanitas's heart into his own, and allowing darkness to spread out of his body and knock Vanitas back.

"Big fucking deal! I'll just grab my heart back… and kick your sorry ass for ever messing with me!" Vanitas declared only to widen his eyes in a mix of shock and fear as something started to form from the void of black.

"Don't be so foolish, Vanitas, even if you were to defeat me, you could never truly reclaim your heart. It belongs to me now, not you." Naruto said with a shake of his head as The Darkness started to wrap and weave itself around his body, soon leaning nothing uncovered. "I on the other hand, have great need for my heart, it makes me who I am, and it is mine. I will not allow you to take it from me!" Naruto declared furiously as the Darkness spread out and a pair of arms and even the body of a new version of The Shade slowly formed before it placed a hand onto Naruto's concealed shoulder while he began to float up into the air, Vanitas taking several steps back, its tail wrapping around his right while its free opened and a pair of brilliant yellow eyes narrowed.

Soon Naruto reached his own hands out of the darkness, only now a completely new Suit of Dark Armor covered them. This new suit was a seemingly organic suit like the one he'd worn before, only now the muscles looked black, with white formed over his chest and abs, a black X over his chest, white had formed over his forearms and knees, and white boots with black soles had also formed, however he now had metal talons covering his fingers, metal V shaped plates covered his biceps, with a black silver lined heart shaped pauldron over each shoulder, a metal plate curving over each shoulder, and segmented heart shaped plates down his spine, he also wore a new Half-Skirt like thing.

It started off with two white belts around his waist with two large pouches at the back, two white straps falling from the upper belt and under the lower one attached to the edges of the cloth, the cloth of the half-skirt being white with a black lining, two more white straps formed a cross between the two sections of the half-skirt, with a silver Keyblade Wielder Crest stationed overtop them both. His helm was made of black glass once more, the Chin-Guard however formed into a point at his chin and the back of his jaw, and a crown shaped section also formed overtop it this time, coming down into a point between where his eyes would be.

Behind the now White-Seeker however is a new Shade, this one being female unlike the last, with nine trailing tendrils coming off of its head like hair, a pair of bright yellow eyes, red trailing on her "Bangs", and a jagged pumpkin grin, its body is slender and feminine, with a heart shaped hole cut out of its stomach below its breasts, two bent lines seemed to arch off of its hips which flowed down into a long tail wrapped around Naruto's right leg with a bit of red formed at the end of its tail, and its arms are also slender, red markings flowing over its forearms, a collar with a chain the only other thing on it slipped around its neck…

"What the hell!" Vanitas demanded while backing up as Naruto then formed No-Heart into his right hand, and Lost-Memory into his left hand. _'Shit, its like he's got his own versions of Oathkeeper and Oblivion now!'_ Vanitas noted as Naruto flipped Lost-Memory into a reverse grip while The Shade formed a ball of darkness into its open hand.

"Now… come forward, and drown in eternal Darkness!" Naruto roared out while swinging No-Heart to the side, the darkness suddenly shooting outwards, away from his Station of Awakening to reveal the new depiction upon its surface. It showed Naruto in the center with a new outfit, his hair swept back in a familiar style, in four spheres surrounding him were a young Xehanort, Vanitas, Ventus, and oddly enough even Aqua. Around them and behind Naruto seemed to be a stylized view of The Broken Kingdom, and surrounding the outmost edge was what appeared to be Keyblade, Heartless, Unversed, and even Nobody Crests, with simple hearts stationed between them…

Shaking his head of that, Vanitas took a stance with Gears of Madness, even as The Unversed Symbol reformed upon his mask. Lunging forward, Vanitas took a swing at Naruto only for The Shade to catch it and snarl.

"**BACK OFF!"** It roared before slamming him down into the ground and tossing him back almost effortlessly. Smirking to himself, Naruto then spun No-Heart in hand and tossed it into the causing it to fly back down and form into the wing-glider on his back that he remembered Master-Xehanort used in his youth.

"Can't you see… this is where you belong… become a part of my heart!" Naruto whispered out darkly even as he raised his right hand to form a third-Keyblade, namely Vanitas's Void-Gear.

"What the hell!" Vanitas demanded only for Naruto to fly straight for him, swinging both Void-Gear and Lost-Memory at the masked Unversed as he did. Quickly dodging the strike, Vanitas then formed a ball of ice in his hand before flinging it at Naruto with a flick of his wrist. However The Shade batted it away with a snarl before detaching itself from the white-seeker and ducked into the ground. Vanitas widened his eyes as The Shade started to rapidly shoot out of the ground, the Unversed quickly running out of the way.

However as The Shade did that, Naruto twisted in place, a swirling mass of darkness spinning around him as he did so. Seeing Vanitas was in range at one point, Naruto then dropped down sending out a trailing energy of Darkess. Widening his eyes, Vanitas cursed while jumping up over the darkness, only for The Shade to grab him by his right leg and slam him into the ground.

"**Submit!"** It ordered angrily before Naruto swung Void-Gear in hand and raised it up into the air.

"Damnation!" The blond declared while a dozen columns formed and then spread outwards while spinning away from Naruto. The Shade simply flowed back into the ground while the attack slammed into Vanitas, knocking him back as Naruto made a "C'mon" gesture, causing The Shade to reform behind him. Watching as Vanitas grunted while pushing himself back to his feet, Naruto then threw both arms to his sides and formed his "Anti-Wing-Blade", causing a dozen swords to form behind him, his two Keyblades replaced by two sword shaped blades of darkness.

Lunging at Vanitas, Naruto swung his right arm, causing the twelve blades behind him to flow with the swing and slice into Vanitas as well. The Unversed gritted his teeth as Naruto then followed that up with a swing of his left arm, the twelve swords following his arm once more. The blond then twisted into a spin in midair, swinging both blades down on Vanitas with the twelve blades following his arms once more. Lunging forward, Naruto released the two blades in his hands, and all fourteen blades began to spin around him, one set going horizontally, the other vertically as he ripped through Vantias before the blades switched to two diagonal rows and continuing their attack.

Quickly catching two of the blades once he was finished, Naruto then watched as the Unversed seemed to vanish into Darkness and grunted. "He escaped… but I have retrieved my heart from him… that is enough." Naruto noted before dismissing Void Gear and lowering himself to the ground where No-Heart vanished from his back and reformed itself into his hand. Looking at No-Heart and Lost-Memory for a moment, the blond haired youth then watched as a Dark-Corridor opened up. "And now, I'll stop Gilver and save Xion." He declared while The Shade nodded it's head as he walked into the corridor and returned to the waking world at long last…

TBC…

AN: Okay I have a bit of a surprise for this chapter, I've actually drawn Naruto's new Armor and the "Neo-Shade" from this chapter and put them onto my DeviantArt account. Go to: 26lordpain .deviantart .com /#/d39ezmw, in order to see it, remove the spaces when you type it out…

Naruto's Keyblade's…

Dark-Heart…

Soul-Blade…

Void-Gear…

Vorpal-Key…

One-Winged-Angel…

No-Heart…

Void-Gear…

Lost-Memory…


	37. Revalations Pt3

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 36**_: _**Revelations Pt. 3**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(Wonderland…)

Alice walked behind her "Other" with a deep scowl, her eye twitching as she waited to strike. _'Why am I even waiting in the first place? I should just kill this worthless copy of me and be done with it!'_ Alice inwardly thought, with her normally jade green eyes still a brilliant shade of amber-yellow in color. However, the only reason she hadn't done so was simple, she didn't know the terrain of this Wonderland, and she needed to find Naruto and the others, sure that they were in some form of trouble… that, and the blond girl reminded her of herself at that age, albeit somewhat smarter.

"So, miss Alice, what brought you to wonderland?" The cheerful blond incarnation of her youth questioned and Alice sneered towards her. _'Oh her cheer and joy I do detest, with burning anger and rage! T'would be so simple, I must confess, to lock her in a cage…'_ Alice thought while rhyming in her head, eyes narrowed on the back of the blond haired girl. Briefly imagining a situation where the blond haired Alice was trapped in a cage, like she'd been trapped in Rutlage, the girl felt an evil grin start to cross her lips.

"I'm not all that sure of the true machinations of my coming here, suffice it to say, I had absolutely no control over it." Alice replied honestly, though still considered finding a cage and locking the blond haired girl in it for the rest of her natural life, or till she went completely insane, whichever came first. _'Oh my or yes, I do confess, that truly sounds like fun! Imagine it, if you will, where her days would soon be done…'_ Alice thought in rhyme once more, an almost inhuman grin slipping across her face as she followed behind her blond counterpart.

"Oh I do know the feeling, I first came to wonderland by accident myself. Wandered down a rabbit hole and fell here you know…" The young Alice replied and the older of the two mentally growled to herself as she noticed a few oddities between them were starting to pop up.

"How old were you when you first came to Wonderland?" She asked idly, curious but not trying too sound too insistent on the matter. In response the younger girl put a finger to her chin and scrunched up her face in concentration.

"I believe I was eleven… maybe twelve… why?" The younger girl replied and Alice frowned to herself, crossing her arms before she answered the girl.

"Because when I first came to Wonderland, I was Seven and a Half exactly." Alice replied and the girl gasped before looking back to her with a horrified expression on her face.

"Oh you poor dear! To be so young and yet exposed to such madness! You must have been absolutely terrified!" The girl declared rather loudly and Alice herself merely rolled her eyes before yawning.

"Not really, though I do admit to being very childish… I even cried over not being able to lace up my dear little shoes or visit the lovely garden when I grew very large on my first time here…" Alice admitted, and then blushed when she realized how she reacted when she broke the heel off of her boot when she first met Naruto. _'Oh dear… he must've thought me such a child! Ohhh… how utterly mortifying! How could I even think to do such a thing in front of someone sane!'_ Alice thought to herself while the young blond looked at her strangely, before deciding that the look of complete and utter embarrassment on the older girls face really didn't matter.

"Well I can't say much about that, I've always been something of a crybaby, I couldn't help myself when I grew too large." The Young Alice explained and the older girl twitched for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"Let me guess, you also met that horrible Duchess and her pig of a baby as well?" Alice questioned and the younger girl merely turned to give her a strange look before shaking her head.

"No… I must confess that I've never met this Duchess… I met the Queen of Hearts however, and her Card-Guard, and the Mad-Hatter… such a strange little man he was." The young Alice replied while the older girl frowned to herself, wondering why it seemed the blond experienced less of Wonderland than she had.

"Pardon, but do you know a Mister Carroll then?" Alice questioned and the blond girl shook her head, causing the older girl to frown in thought. _'Now that is strange, me and Mister Carroll were good friends, even after he wrote his book… why is it she doesn't know him?'_ The dark haired Other of the young Alice wondered to herself, while also wondering why she seemed to be older than the other Alice as well. _'Which one came first, the darkness or the light? I don't know, the answer it is just so far out of sight…'_ Alice thought in verse while the blond haired Somebody slowed and then tilted her head when she saw a brown haired girl laying in a field, seemingly unconscious.

"My oh my, what do you suppose happened to this poor dear here?" The blond questioned, thus snapping the older girl from her troubled thoughts and back to the present. Blinking owlishly for but a moment, the older of the two then looked passed the blond before kneeling down next to the unconscious form of Tira.

"Miss Tira! Are you alright?" Alice questioned while picking the girl up by her shoulders and started to shake her in an attempt to get her to rouse awake.

"Dear me, what an absolutely scandalous affair her outfit is!" The blond Alice stated with a blush on her face and her older counterpart rolled her eyes, though did agree with her… "How appalling, you can even see her under-clothes!" The blond added and her older counterpart blinked before shaking her head slowly. _'Must she state the obvious?'_ She wondered for a moment while patting Tira's cheek and the insane servant of Soul-Edge slowly roused, her head wobbling as she placed a hand to her head.

"Ow… Master, did we have to play so rough again?" She wondered aloud, causing even Alice to raise a brow, then narrow them dangerously as she wondered which "Master" she meant, having learned of Soul-Edge / Nightmare, and hoped that she meant him…

"Master? Who is, Master?" The blond suddenly asked and Alice sighed while Tira looked at both of them for a moment and then groaned to herself while rubbing her head with a pained grimace.

"Wow, I think I'm starting to see double… or did you just swap clothes with little miss blondy over there, huh Alice?" Tira asked the auburn haired lass and the said girl gave her a blank expression before answering both of them.

"The first question, Tira here is a servile girl who serves her master, mind body and soul." Alice told her counterpart who yet again appeared to be scandalized by that and stared at the "Barely dressed" girl while her counterpart then looked over to Tira. "Second, no I didn't swap my clothes, these merely appeared on me when I landed here in this new Wonderland…" Alice replied and Tira tilted her head before looking around and then raised a brow.

"Wonderland? But this doesn't look anything like Wonderland!" She declared and the blond Alice looked at the two strangely, wondering why they both acted so oddly.

"Yes indeed, this isn't _**my**_ Wonderland, this is _**her**_ wonderland…" Alice replied with a nod of her head then nudged towards the blond before suddenly frowning to herself. "She's also my 'Other'… like that Sora boy is to Naruto." Alice continued to say only for the blond haired Alice to interrupt them from their conversation.

"Did you say Sora?" The girl questioned and both nodded their heads. "Oh my! Are you friends of his? He saved me once a while back." Alice noted and caused her counterpart to twitch violently while Tira snickered to herself.

"Yeah, we know 'Sora' in a way…" Tira replied while Alice muttered to herself and wondering how Naruto and Sora could be so similar, yet also dissimilar at the same time before inwardly comparing it to herself and her own counterpart…

"Anyways, we should keep moving, that annoying Cheshire-Cat likes to float and laze about around here. And we wouldn't want him sicking his batch of Heartless on us…" The blond haired version of Alice stated while walking away, her counterpart and Tira both looking to one another with a strange expression.

"Wait, this Cheshire Cat controls Heartless? Does that mean yours is the "Light" version?" Tira asked and the auburn haired Alice frowned to herself, crossing her arms over her chest and following behind the blond haired girl.

"Probably not… perhaps it's just him being the opposite of hers, thus less as she seems to be putting it at least 'annoying and lazy' and a bit more wise and helpful." Alice replied while at least hoping that was the case, not really sure how things worked in this whole "balance" thing…

(Temen-ni-gru…)

The form of Naruto in his White Seeker Armor continues to traverse the many halls, corridors, and rooms of The Temen-ni-gru, The Neo-Shade having been dismissed along with his keyblades. Naruto had been searching the Temen-ni-gru for Trish in an attempt to retrieve the sword known as Sparda. _'Where the hell is she?'_ He wondered to himself while flexing his hands at his sides absently, and then crossed his arms over his chest. However he then groaned when shadows started to slither forward, silver scythes and scissors gleaming in the dim-light made by several small torches. Forming One-Winged-Angel and No-Heart into his hands, the youth then frowned towards the oncoming mass of devils.

'_Normally I'd use Soul-Blade to take these things down, but I really don't want their demonic souls tainting it further and turning it into a copy of Soul-Edge… I have enough fucking problems right now without having a soul-stealing weapon trying to control my mind and burn everything to ash!'_ Naruto thought to himself while lunging forward and cutting the demons to ribbons with surprising speed and grace, scoffing to himself as they fell to pieces upon the floor behind him. "Worthless…" He muttered quietly before continuing on his trek through the Temen-ni-gru with a deep frown now stretched across his face.

The one thing that was worse than having to search for Xion, was being forced to retrieve Sparda in order to insure that Gilver didn't hurt her. As reckless as he could be, Naruto wouldn't allow his friends to come to harm because he wanted to be stubborn. Though he did admit he'd probably gotten a few people hurt by being stubborn in the past, Naruto was able to admit his wrongdoing, which was more than he could say for others. He also didn't want to admit it, but the thought of taking Sparda, a sword so powerful it was said to be able to destroy worlds, also appealed to him greatly…

'_Taking it from that blond bitch is just icing on the cake.'_ Naruto thought to himself while kicking the doors to a room open and then came to a stop. Across from him was a man with a smirk on his lips, what looked like Sparda hanging on his back, arms outstretched as he sat on what appeared to be a simple bench, one leg propped on the other and bobbing slowly. "Well well well, who do we have here?" The man suddenly questioned while leaning forward and propping his chin on his upwards-raised fist. "You wouldn't happen to be a devil would you?" The man questioned while Naruto scowled deeply, while it wasn't an insult like back in Konoha, he still didn't like it when people called him a devil or demon…

"No." Naruto stated flatly while glaring at the man and taking in his appearance with a slight frown on his face. He is a tall tanned man, his features are "regal" in some way with a sharp chin and upturned nose, his hair is shaggy silver and reaches down to nearly touch his shoulders, while his cold icy blue eyes still manage to gaze out passed his bangs, a cocky smirk on his face, and a strong build. He wears a nearly skin-tight black shirt with a red vest overtop it, a pair of red leather pants with a black belt around his waist, a black pouch strapped to his right thigh, black leather boots and gloves, and a long red trench-coat with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and strangely enough even a clock shaped armlet on his right bicep…

"A devil hunter then?" The man asked with a clearly amused look on his face that just annoyed Naruto for some reason.

"Again, no." Naruto replied while leaning OWA into his shoulder with a deep frown, the man cupping his chin as he looked towards him.

"Really, well what a surprise." He noted before smirking towards the white-clad youth, the mischief in his eyes setting off warning bells in Naruto's head. "Then I guess you'd have to be a Keybearer? Right?" He asked and Naruto twitched before narrowing his eyes onto the man.

"You knew that from the beginning… didn't you?" Naruto questioned flatly and the man shrugged his shoulders before crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back and taking the bench with him.

"Who knows, maybe I did, maybe I didn't does it really matter?" He quipped and Naruto hummed for a moment before smirking slightly beneath his helm.

"I suppose not… but I'm going to be needing that sword you got there." Naruto stated while pointing to Sparda and the man reached back, touched the handle for a moment and then clicked his tongue.

"Really, my old-mans sword… why would you need a thing like that?" The silver haired man questioned and Naruto blinked, then shivered as bright crimson red wisps of energy began to float off of the man.

"So you're a devil as well." Naruto noted flatly while the man pushed himself off of the bench and shrugged his shoulders.

"Like I said before, who knows, I'm not really sure myself sometimes." The man replied while rubbing his shoulders and then smirked towards Naruto as he formed a lightning coated broadsword into his hand. "So, got a name kid?" He quipped while Naruto merely rolled his eyes and switched One-Winged-Angel for No-Heart, then formed Lost-Memory into his free hand in a reverse grip.

"Naruto… you?" Naruto replied in question and the man smirked while gripping Alastor's hilt with both hands.

"Dante." The man replied with a smirk still crossing his lips, and then lunged forward, stabbing his sword towards Naruto in a "Stinger" attack. Moving to the side, Naruto then swung LM, only to widen his eyes as Dante moved in a blur of speed, evading the attack and appearing above him. Cursing under his breath as Dante brought his sword down on him in a "Helm-Breaker" attack then white-seeker rolled out of the way and then flipped back up to his feet. Quickly twisting on his heel, Naruto threw LM in a Strike-Raid towards Dante, the red clad man smirking as he pulled a gun from behind his back and fired, the power of the black weapon knocking LM to the side.

Grunting lowly, Naruto then lunged out of the way as Dante twisted and ran his blade across the length of the ground, sending out a beam of energy flying towards the white seeker. Rolling out of the way, Naruto quickly grabbed LM from the floor before throwing No-Heart into the air where it changed into his "Wing-Glider" and attached to his back. Flapping the mock-wings, Naruto rose up into the air while Dante let out a low whistle, still smirking as he pulled out both of his guns and unleashed a torrent of bullets towards the blond haired youth. Cursing under his breath, Naruto used the Wing-Glider to dodge the bullets before forming Void-Gear into his now free hand and aimed both it and Lost-Memory towards the red clad man.

"Get lost!" Naruto declared while firing a spray of Dark-Bullets towards the man from the tips of his two Keyblades. Grinning widely, Dante whooped and hollered as he twisted and dodged around the spray, laughing as he flipped into the air, did a spin and then landed in a low crouch. "Hold still you stupid monkey!" Naruto shouted at Dante while swinging both his Keyblades, sending a burst of Darkness from both blades flying towards the man, only for him to jump over them and aim both of his guns at the white-seeker with a wide grin.

"Now where would the fun be in that!" Dante challenged while firing off his weapons, Naruto evading the bullets before growling as he formed some Dark-Fire into his right hand and then swung Void-Gear. As he did the flames roared outwards, creating a torrential wall of fire that went straight towards the red clad man. Grinning to himself, the man twirled his twin pistols in hand before holding them forward. "Jackpot!" He declared while firing off twin streams of energy bolts from his guns that not only tore their way through the flames, opening a section for him to walk through, but also headed straight for a surprised Naruto.

"Shit!" Naruto exclaimed while rolling out of the way and falling back to the ground, grunting under his breath as the blast caused a section of the roof collapsed. _'This guy…he's more dangerous than I first suspected, and I had already thought he was very dangerous to begin with!'_ The white-seeker thought to himself before looking to Dante who held out his hands and formed a pair of fiery gauntlets along his forearms that also resembled a pair of dragons…

"C'mon kid, the parties only getting started! Don't quit on my now!" The man admonished playfully and Naruto grunted while forming No-Heart into a single hooked greave on his right leg before lunging forward. Twisting into a low-sweeping kick, Naruto then grunted as Dante flipped over it and twisted into a backwards punch. Moving out of the way, Naruto quickly leapt forward, swinging both of his blades at Dante and yet the man blocked with his gauntlets, the explosion of power from the disorientating Naruto long enough for a fire-coated fist to connect with his gut before it was followed by another to his sternum, and ended as his Dante blasted him with a ball of fire.

Grunting lightly, Naruto rolled back to his feet while watching Dante with a frown, the man moving in what looked like no style at all. _'No, he has a style to it; I just can't place what it is. He must be using a demonic variation of a real style, otherwise he'd just be using the weapon without a style… and he can't be that crazy… can he?'_ Naruto wondered to himself before mentally shaking his head and lunging forward, lashing out with his greave covered leg and frowning as Dante expertly dodged and weaved his way through the attacks, and then slammed a fist into his chin with what could only be called a flame coated spinning uppercut.

"Shoryuken!" He said mockingly while twisting into the air with Naruto, then lashed out with an almost bullet like downward kick that sent Naruto skidding away from the silver haired man. Scowling deeply, Naruto lunged forward and lashed out with a quick flying roundhouse kick, however Dante whistled to himself as he ducked out of the way and then smirked. "Time-Stop!" He stated while snapping his fingers, the clock-like armband he was wearing instantly stopping along with Naruto. Placing his hands onto his hips, Dante then whistled a tune as he looked at Naruto for a moment, cupped his chin in thought and then brought his arm back and slammed it into his face, while also starting time back up at the exact same moment.

The effect of doing this was that Naruto was sent flying back and blinking in a mix of surprise and shock while wondering what the hell had just happened. Looking up, Naruto saw an amused Dante chuckle to himself and scowled deeply while pushing himself back up onto his feet. Brushing off his arms, the white-seeker then frowned in thought for a moment before grinning almost evilly. Swinging Void-Gear backwards he called on the Darkness and formed several ethereal swords of darkness around his body, clearly sending Dante for a loop as he stared at him in a mix of shock and intrigue.

Not giving the man a chance to recover, Naruto lunged forward, grabbing hold of two of the swords and swinging them into and through Dante. The man grunted only slightly as he did so, and Naruto then lunged forward, the swords spinning around him vertically and horizontally as he did so before he twisted around, causing them to go in both diagonal directions as he attacked him from below. Watching the man fall to the ground, Naruto was surprised to see him smirk and thus lunged at him once more, the blades forming a pair of wings behind his back which he then swung back before throwing them forward.

"Angel-Feathers!" He roared as the blades flew outwards, constantly reforming behind his back and casting a seemingly never-ending amount of ethereal swords of Darkness forward. As the attack soon began to slow, Naruto smirked to himself when he saw Dante standing apposed to him, several of the ethereal blades piercing his body. However his eyes then widened as crimson red energy began to waft off of the silver haired man's form, his eyes glowing a fierce crimson as well. Slowly marching forward, Dante pushed or pulled each of the blades from his body, the evil energy swirling around his body while the room around them seemed to darken, shadows becoming like ebony pools of tar while Dante smirked darkly.

"**Oh yeah…"** He noted aloud before throwing his arms to either side and quickly pulled Sparda from his back before swinging it forward, its power crackling along its length and causing the ground to crack. **"Now the party can really start!"** Dante exclaimed while flames roared to life around his body and then spread outwards, Naruto cursing as he jumped up into the air, forming No-Heart into a Wing-Glider once more to evade the flames and then widened his eyes as he saw a silhouetted figure within the flames, its three slit like eyes glowing a deep crimson red… Slowly the figure swung his massive blade, dispersing the flames before marching forward with heavy clunks, Naruto shivering as fear worked its way into his heart.

The figure had a generally humanoid shape and size, only with a rough semi-reptilian hide rather than skin, the hide looking black with purple highlights, his feet appearing more like cloven hooves, his knees covered by golden demonic skulls, his chest by an armored chest-piece that points upwards, a pair of large heavy pauldrons on his shoulders, a golden collar of some kind around the outside of his neck, a pair of bat like wings overtop several puple insect wings, his face was a lighter shade than the rest of his body, with a fang filled maw, three slitted blood red eyes, gold trimming his cheeks and third eye, as well as two large sweeping horns with red formed at their ends, wisps of ebony smoke trailing off of his entire body…

"Ohhh shit…" Naruto whispered while the devil cracked its neck and then smirked towards him darkly. "The Legendary Dark Knight…" Naruto added to his thoughts before the devil reached out a single hand and made a quick "C'mon" gesture. "Well then who am I to pass up an opportunity to kick your ass?" Naruto wondered to himself before snapping his fingers to summon The Neo-Shade, the creature appearing behind its host with a hand on his shoulder, an amused look crossing The Devil's features as she appeared. Not waiting for "Sparda" to go on the offensive, Naruto lunged forward and lashed out with a kick towards his face.

Sparda easily evaded the kick, only to be surprised when The Shade backhanded him from the side. Blinking for a moment, the creature then held its hands towards Naruto and fired a torrent of fireballs at him. Mentally cursing as they headed straight for him, Naruto evaded the balls of heat before quickly lunging at the semi-reptilian Devil with a roar. Lashing out with an ax-kick, Naruto grunted as Sparda caught his foot and then threw him back with unreal strength, The Shade having to use its tail just to keep him from slamming into the far wall. _'This will be difficult… but all I need is that sword.'_ Naruto reasoned to himself, deciding it wasn't worth it to keep fighting a man who had somehow become The Legendary Dark Knight himself…

'_Alright, if I distract him for a moment, The Shade should be able to grab that sword from him and we can get out of here.'_ Naruto decided while Sparda lunged forward with unreal speeds, lashing out with a swing of his sword that cracked the ground enough to create a small crater. _'Definitely not fighting this guy…'_ Naruto inwardly decided while Sparda came at him with a Stinger, Naruto evading the attack and then swinging a roundhouse kick at his face while The Shade vanished from view. Sparda easily blocked the attack with his sword, then lashed out with a fire-ball from his free hand, Naruto rolling out of the way and twisting into a sweeping kick, knocking the devil off of his feet with a grunt.

Instantly The Shade was upon him, grasping Sparda's hilt and reforming behind Naruto with the weapon. Taking the offered sword from her grasp Naruto gave a mock salute as Sparda picked himself up off of the ground. "Better luck next time, if there is a next time." Naruto quipped with a smirk before vanishing into a Dark Corridor, 'Sparda' blinking for a moment before smirking to himself.

"**Not bad, not bad at all."** He mused to himself before a purple field formed around his body and Dante stood with his arms crossed and a smirk on his lips. "I could really learn to like that kid." Dante decided with a nod of his head before looking back when someone cleared their throat behind him. "Yo Lady! How ya doing?" Dante questioned of the scantaly clad woman and she rolled her eyes before pointing a thumb over her shoulder, where Trish was following her with Sparda still attached to her back.

"Been better, found this wondering around though." Lady quipped and got a look from the blond haired thunder demon, Dante chuckling lightly to himself at the look. "What about you, you been keeping out of trouble?" Lady questioned with a raised brow and Dante shrugged his shoulders while turning away from the two women.

"You know me." He replied and both women had flat looks cross their faces as they looked from eachother to him and then sighed.

"That's why we're worried…" Trish replied and Dante shook his head before turning stone serious with his arms crossed.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just had a run in with a kid, looks like Ver's been making trouble and enemies…" He noted and both Trish and Lady looked to him before noticing something was missing.

"Hey, where's Yamato?" Lady questioned and a slight smirk crossed Dante's lips as he turned on his heel and walked away…

(Agrabah…)

Tsunade flipped over the Mysterious Figure, smirking as she landed in a crouch before lunging forward with a roundhouse kick to his head. The man was sent skidding across the desert, only for him to suddenly phase out of existence, the busty blond grunting as she leaned back to avoid one of his blades as the real one came at her from the side. _'This guy is really getting on my nerves, even if I'm youthful or not he's still a fucking beast!'_ Tsunade thought to herself while also noting it'd be hard for even Kage level nin to take on a man who could bend and manipulate the flow of time to his whims.

Watching the man warily, she arched a slender brow as he threw his hand down, causing a wall of sand to rise up around him through some unseen force. Pulling back on his arms, the man then spun in place, swinging one arm and creating a spinning torrent of fire around his entire body. Tsunade then watched with a mental groan as time sped up around the man, superheating the sand for what was probably years before he stopped the flames and caused glass to form before his body. Bringing back one arm, the man then slammed it forward, sending dozens of dagger like glass shards flying towards her. Mentally growling the blond haired woman twisted around the majority of the daggers, twitching as some still managed to catch her, and then jumped out of the field of shards.

Landing in a crouch, Tsunade then kicked her foot back and lunged forward, nailing The Mysterious Figure with a clothesline and knocking him to the ground. However much like every time she actually managed to hit him, a clock face appeared and time was reversed, the blond haired woman wishing she could scream in frustration as she soon found herself back in her original position. _'This is insane! Every time I actually manage to hurt him he just turns back time on me! How the hell do you fight someone who can bend time to his whims?'_ The blond woman inwardly demanded for what felt like the millionth time since the fight began.

Meanwhile, Riku was watching the battle with wide eyes, soon turning to look at a frazzled and worried Shizune as she healed him. "Should we help her?" He asked and the dark haired woman looked from the frustrated / angry Tsunade towards the Mysterious Figure. And as she did she saw him lightly panting, thus narrowed her eyes onto the man. _'Hmm… he can control time, but it looks like he himself isn't immune to it, he's getting too tired to fight, even by turning back time on himself he's still been fighting for over an hour, non-stop, without any breaks… of course he could probably just stop time if he wanted one.'_ Shizune mused then noted to herself with a mental sigh.

"No, Tsunade-Sama gets really angry when you interfere in her battles, especially if she's mad." Shizune replied while continuing to heal the silver haired boy, absently looking towards her teacher every now and again as she did. Riku on the other hand was very confused; he was also somewhat worried about Donald, as it couldn't be good for the duck to be frozen in time. He also wondered how Shizune and Tsunade, whose names he thought were weird, could possibly move when Time was supposed to be frozen. Shaking his head of such thoughts, the teen then watched Tsunade grind her teeth and her brow twitched violently…

'_She's really pissed off… and from what this girl has been saying, that's not a good thing for that cloaked guy.'_ Riku noted while watching as Tsunade cracked her knuckles and then lunged forward, before suddenly twisting into a hip-drop onto the Mysterious-Figure, the man groaning as Tsunade then rolled on him, grabbed him up into a headlock, continued rolling until her foot connected with the ground, and then tossed the man away. Quickly kicking forward after him, Tsunade grabbed the man by his ankle, jumped into the air, and slammed her fist into his chest. The man was instanteously slammed down into the sand, his impact creating an explosion while no one saw a large clock-face forming in the sky, and then suddenly shattered…

"Ha!" Tsunade exclaimed loudly while picking The Mysterious Figure up by the front of his cloak. "You tired yourself out with all those fancy ass tricks of yours!" The woman exclaimed and The Mysterious Figure groaned before vanishing from her hands, causing the woman's eyes to widen in a mix of shock and annoyance.

"_No not at all… ugh… but it does take too much concentration to form a clone, keep everything around us stopped, and keep myself invisible to your senses… oh my head…"_ The Mysterious Figure noted while Tsunade turned around to see the man, his hands on his cloaked head. _"Not only that but the sheer amount of strain on my powers didn't hurt, I mean they were never designed to be used for so long, playing around with you was most assuredly not the best of ideas."_ The Mysterious Figure noted mostly to himself before shaking his head in order to clear it. _"And having to work at keeping myself in this exact timeline also takes a bit of effort…"_ The man finished causing Tsunade's brow to rise up her forehead.

"What do you mean keep yourself in _**this**_ timeline!" She demanded, both loudly, and incredulously and The Mysterious Figure visibly winced while reaching into his hood to rub his head.

"_Ohh… please do be a bit more quiet, my head really hurts right now. But as for what I meant it is quite simple actually. Every world and universe have time, however, for every choice made by the individuals of that world a new timeline is created. For instance, in one timeline you could be dead, while in another you could be evil, and in yet another you could be a whore or slut or whatever it is you call prostitutes… my point being that there are an infinite number of realms and realities to explore, which is what I do."_ The man explained and Tsunade frowned deeply while narrowing her eyes onto the strange man.

"Why?" She questioned finally and saw the man gaze towards her before chuckling to himself.

"_Ahhh… I love that word, it's so simple yet also so damning… why, why do we do what we do? Why are we here? Why am I this way? Why are they that way? The possibilities of why are limitless and yet so are the dangers of asking such a simple little question. But, why I travel the multiverse, and even the separate realities beyond even that is quite simple… to learn."_ The man replied with a sweep of his left arm and Tsunade scowled deeply towards the man.

"What could you possibly hope to learn by traveling to different timelines?" She questioned and the man chuckled once more while tilting his head to one side as he continued to gaze at her.

"_A better question would be what __**couldn't**__ I learn from doing so… I have seen both the beginning and the end of life, I have watched worlds crumble and entire galaxies collapse on themselves… I have, in the shortness of my life, learned more than any other mere mortal can ever hope to comprehend. And yet, one thing still eludes me, and it is for that one thing that I continue to learn and grow. Thus far I am attempting to learn of the nature of Light, Darkness, Nothing, and Twilight, so what better timeline than this one."_ The man continued to explain while Riku looked towards the man worriedly, not liking the sound of that.

"You're no different than, Xehanort!" Riku accused while pushing himself to his feet, much to Shizune's protestations. "Trying to learn everything, no matter what it takes for you to do so… you're just like him!" Riku accused while forming War-To-Dawn into his hand and The Mysterious Figure chuckled wryly while folding his arms behind his back, head tilted to one side.

"_Yes… I suppose I am. However unlike him, I have truly seen the greatness of Kingdom Hearts with my own eyes! I watched the true masters of The Keyblade fight one another to the death during The Keyblade Wars, and I have even seen the Darkness swallow the worlds before they were reformed into these small shards… Unlike him, I have seen it all already."_ The Mysterious Figure noted with a nod of his head and Riku scowled while glaring at him.

"But you did nothing to stop any of it! You did nothing to stop Xehanort's plans, all you do is watch like nothing else matters but your precious research!" The silver haired youth shouted at him and The Mysterious Figure chuckled lightly before holding out a hand to stop a ball of fire. Turning to where it came from, Riku was relieved to see Donald alive and well, however quickly looked back to The Mysterious Figure as he crushed the ball of fire within his hand.

"_My research is all that matters to me, and why should I interfere with how things happen in your timeline… it's not my own after all. This world, no, this universe, it's problems, they matter little to me, for even if this universe were to be destroyed, I could simply return to my own."_ The Mysterious Figure noted in a cold yet dull monotone, the sheer level of neutrality in his voice causing a shiver to run down the length of Riku's spine. _"And since I've had my fun with the woman, it is time that I make my leave…After all I still need to find someone with powers of true Darkness to face me in battle…"_ The Mysterious Figure noted to himself as he shimmered and then walked forward, turning transparent and then completely vanishing as he did so…

(Temen-ni-gru…)

Naruto silently walked up the final flight of stairs to the roof of The Temen-Ni-Gru, the massive sword, Sparda, hanging onto his back through some unknown power. Looking around, Naruto frowned when he saw the endless expanse of Darkness surrounding the ancient demonic tower. _'So I was right, this place has been absorbed by the Realm of Darkness, and changed from The Physical Realm, to the Ethereal…'_ Naruto thought to himself before continuing on his way, silently ascending the last flight of stairs and narrowing his eyes. Across from Naruto, his sword sheathed with its tip pointed down, his hands atop the blades pommel as a smirk crossed onto his hidden visage.

"So you showed up." Gilver noted calmly while opening his crimson red eyes, Xion looking from the bandaged man towards the white-seeker in shock. _'Is that really master? What happened to him?'_ The girl wondered to herself while Gilver twirled his sword upward and then leaned it's sheathed into his shoulder. "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't show up." Gilver noted before turning his head and smirking beneath his bandages when he saw the sword on Naruto's back. "Good, and you even have Sparda with you." The green clad swordsman noted before turning around, his glowing crimson orbs piercing the darkness.

"And, it looks as though you've grown stronger as well…" Gilver noted while looking at the new, white Dark-Armor worn by the blond, and then smirked. "I must admit, that I'm still deeply impressed by your success and skill, taking Sparda couldn't have been a simple task." Gilver noted while Naruto merely narrowed his eyes onto the devil dangerously. For a long moment, a terse silence was all that sounded upon the roof of The Temen-Ni-Gru, before Gilver tilted his head to one side. "And before you ask, about the girl, she's fine… I've been taking good care of her." Gilver then stated while stepping off to the side, showing Xion chained to one of the spikes surrounding the roof.

Growling lightly under his breath, Naruto then reached to his back, pulled Sparda free before slamming it down and digging the tip of its blade into the ground. Narrowing his eyes behind his mask the White-Seeker felt as wisps of Darkness began to slither over his armor. "Let her go and the sword is yours…" Naruto stated and Gilver shook his head before picking up his own blade and leaning it across his shoulders.

"I'm afraid, that that's not how things work here… this is how things are going to go, you hand Sparda over to me, and then I'll give the girl back to you." Gilver retorted and Naruto frowned beneath the black glass covering his face completely from view.

"You'll just take the sword and then kill her if we do things that way." Naruto retorted and Gilver raised a brow before chuckling lightly for a moment, a purple aura forming over his body as he did.

"Then it seems we have reached an impasse…" Gilver noted before watching as Darkness started to rise off of Naruto's own body, swirling like fire into intricate patterns.

"Yeah it does…" Naruto noted as well while forming No-Heart and pulled Gloria from the large pouch at the back of his waist and into his left hand. While tempted to try and fight Gilver with Sparda, he was unsure of what kind of affect the demonic blade might have on his Dark-Armor, or worse, his own body.

"Humph… you certainly seem more comfortable with the darkness dwelling within your heart now. Tell me, did you find out something you didn't know before?" Gilver noted idly before unsheathing his sword and throwing the sheath to the side, Naruto narrowing his eyes as the darkness started to pour off of his body and out over the entire roof of The Temen-ni-gru.

"No… I'm not just comfortable with the Darkness…" Naruto whispered even as a familiar shadowy entity began to form behind him, one hand on his shoulder while Xion widened her eyes. "I was created from Darkness as Vanitas…" Naruto whispered as he held up No-Heart and closed his eyes. "I welcomed it into my very soul as Xehanort…" He continued to say, slightly louder this time, with an inward sweep of his other arm as The Shade, opened its crimson red eyes and narrowed them onto Gilver. "I was born into Darkness as Sora's other…" Naruto continued on while Gilver swung his arm, his body shifting into the form of Nelo-Angelo as he did so.

"But now, I am truly embraced by the Darkness, cared for, and protected by it… as if it were my own mother!" Naruto declared loudly while swinging No-Heart forward, thirteen dark chains with spikes lining their length ripping their way from The Shade's back before they suddenly launched forward. Seeing them coming, Nelo quickly lunged out of the way of the chains only to grunt as they twisted at the last second and wrapped around his leg. Grunting, Nelo was pulled to the ground before being dragged across the ground by the chains and then lifted up into the air. Growling lowly, Nelo swung his sword at the chains, only to widen his eyes as they easily held off his attack.

'_**These chains, how can they possibly hold my power back?'**_ He wondered to himself before grunting as he was then thrown up into the air, the chains quickly untangling from his legs. A mere second later, the chains then shot up into the air, their spiked tips aimed directly at the armored behemoth. Growling angrily, Nelo evaded the chains by quickly teleporting in a flash of fire before reappearing behind Naruto and swinging his sword, only to widen his eyes as The Neo-Shade stopped his blade with one hand. The Female Symbiotic Shadow then narrowed its eyes onto him before lifting him up off of the ground by his sword.

"**Dattebane!"** The Shade growled out, in a woman's voice combined with a hollow metallic ring, while swinging Nelo around, slamming him into the ground and then dragging him along the ground before throwing him away with surprising strength. Skidding back for a length of time, Nelo then dug his blade into the ground to slow himself before looking to where the White Seeker was lazily floating off of the ground; arms crossed as The Shade threw its arms to either side and formed a pair of balls of darkness. **"Get lost!"** The Shade roared out while swinging its arms upwards, a pair of large arcs of darkness tearing their way through the ground towards Nelo.

Moving quickly, Nelo lunged out of the way of the arcs, watching on in amazement as they tore the floor into chunks before seeming to fade into the distance, before sliding into a crouch and growling furiously as he turned towards the White-Seeker. Nelo then swung his arm, numerous glowing swords appearing around before he brought his hand up, the swords forming up over him and pointing towards both Naruto and The Neo-Shade. Roaring out, Nelo then sent the half-dozen ethereal blades shooting towards the youth, only to watch in shock as The Shade wrapped its arms around him, a sphere of pure Darkness forming around them and blocking the blades.

'_**Long range doesn't work then… short range is suicide with that creature protecting him… but all I need to do is just get my hands on Sparda and I'll make short work of both of them.'**_ Nelo decided while glaring at the two furiously, only to blink as Naruto started to glow with an eerie ebony light. "Witness… the true Power of Darkness!" The youth uttered darkly while The Shade let out a low groan as it's chains suddenly shot out into the heavens before then turning downwards and digging their way into the entirety of the Temen-Ni-Gru. Looking on in a mix of curiosity and caution, Nelo then fell down as the entire tower was rocked and chook as Naruto then shot up into the air, The Shade grasping it's chains in both hands and heaving back on them.

As she did, Naruto spun No-Heart in one hand before pointing it down along the chains with a grin hidden by his helmet. _**"DARK FIRAGA!"**_ He declared loudly as the purple and ebony flames suddenly flared out from the tip of his keyblade and raced down the length of the many Dark-Chains, causing the flames to crisscross their way into and through all of the Temen-ni-gru. Within the tower, tapestries and books were suddenly set ablaze, burning into nothing but cinders and ash with unreal speed. However on top of the tower, a heart shaped symbol appeared in the center of the floor, only to be bisected by a pair of The Shade's chains, thus looking more akin to a Heartless Symbol…

However Nelo on the other hand then watched in shock as the Dark-Chains started to rip their way through the floor and burst out from under him, then quickly snaked their way around his body before holding him firmly, still set ablaze. Chuckling to himself as he watched Nelo struggle with the chains, Naruto then formed No-Heart into a pair of wings while holding his hand into the air with a grin. _'Now it's time I grind my way through that armor of his… wait… now there's an idea I hadn't thought of before!'_ Naruto mused to himself as he focused on the Darkness and brought it to his hand, before forcing it to spin and swirl, a mass of black / violet energy twisting and turning in his hand while giving off several spectral wisps…

"**Kage-no-Rasengan! (Shadow of the Swirling-Sphere!)"** Naruto uttered sinisterly as he moved with unreal speed, appearing before Nelo with The Shade having on hand on his shoulder, a strangely proud looking smile across it's lips. Rearing his arm back, the white-seeker then slammed the new attack into Nelo's chest, causing it to grind and shred its way through his armor before throwing the armored behemoth sailing back, Dark-Flames still coating his body as he hit the ground with a heavy thud. "Kneel before me, worm." Naruto stated as he slowly lowered himself to the ground, arms crossed over his chest as Nelo pushed himself back to his feet, his armor chipping and falling to pieces to reveal some of Gilver beneath the armor.

Panting heavily, Nelo swung his sword and then lunged at Naruto once more with a roar, swinging his sword at him wildly. Moving out of the way of the attacks with surprising grace, the white-seeker then punched Nelo's exposed chest before twirling Gloria in his free hand. Twisting around, the youth flung the weapon at Nelo and watched with amusement as it lodged itself into his helmet, forming a large crack down its length. Twisting on his heel, Naruto then kicked Gloria further into Nelo's head, causing him to stumble back while The Shade narrowed its eyes. **"Submit!"** She declared while zipping from behind Naruto and quickly grabbed Nelo by his wrists, her tail wrapping around one of his legs to lessen his struggling.

Smirking at the impressive maneuver, and at the sheer strength of this new version of The Shade, Naruto then calmly floated forward before reaching out to grip Gloria and then ripped it out of Nelo's head. "I can already tell, this is going to be fun." Naruto noted sinisterly while quickly stabbing Nelo in the gut with Gloria before twisting the knife and ripping it out of the devil. Forming another Kage-no-Rasengan into his free hand, Naruto then slammed the attack into Nelo's face, and then watched with a detached form of amusement as it ground its way through his helmet.

Snapping his fingers as Nelo hung his head, Naruto watched The Shade drop him before he fell face first to the ground and the shadowy specter reformed behind him. At the same time, Nelo-Angelo's armor completely crumbled to dust, while Gilver grit his teeth and pushed himself to his feet with his sword while holding his wounded side even as it quickly healed over. "You have lost, now… sink into the Darkness…" Naruto uttered in a low sinister tone as the shadows around them started to rise up into the air, Darksides forming as they climbed up the length of the Temen-ni-gru, Neo-Shadows, Shadows, Dark-Balls, and all manor of other Pure-Blooded Heartless making their way towards the two.

Seeing them coming, Gilver let out a roar while bringing his arms inwards, then slamming them onto the ground, three rings of Summoned Swords forming around his body before exploding outwards. The blades flew outwards, slicing through each of the Heartless as the green-clad swordsman then kicked off of the ground and towards Naruto with his sword. Raising a brow, Naruto formed OWA into his free hand and blocked the man's blade with it before shoving him back to the ground and slowly landing himself. Feeling The Shade growl while glaring towards the silver haired man, Naruto smirked lightly while holding OWA and crouched down with it, glaring at Gilver as he did.

However an amused grin then made its way to Gilver's lips as he glared at the White-Seeker before he suddenly pulled a gun out from his coat. Instantly, Naruto's mind raced when he saw it, it was a _**heavily**_ modified short double-barreled shotgun that seemed made for one hand, which was all Gilver needed as his other held his sword. "I guess this time, I get to be the one to say, 'Jackpot!'" Gilver noted while quickly pulling the trigger and unloading both shells into the blond's head almost instantly. The force of the blast sent Naruto flying back, the black glass of his helmet shattering and spreading across the roof while The Shade caught him in her arms.

"At last!" Gilver crowed while trudging forward, tossing the Shotgun to the side as he made his way towards the sword he'd sought after for so long. "It's finally mine!" Gilver said with his eyes wide in near insane glee as he threw his sword to the side, its blade digging into the ground. "Yes! This is it! This is the power that I've craved, hungered for for so very long!" He whispered while slowly reaching forward to take hold of the hilt of the weapon, a shudder crawling down his spine as his wounds almost instantly healed. As he gripped the weapon, Naruto let out a breath and breathed inwards, opening his golden amber eyes and then turning his head to where Gilver began to glow with an unearthly power.

"Jokes on you…" Naruto whispered while the silver portion of his helmet / crown dipped down at his brow enough to shadow his eyes. Watching on with her host, The Neo-Shade then watched with a mix of worry and awe as Gilver ripped the massive blade from the ground and held it up over his head.

"The Power of Sparda!" He exclaimed as the blade began to spark violently before turning an off blue shade, causing Gilver's grin to slowly slip as it did. He then watched as the once massive blade shrunk down, soon forming into an eerily familiar O-Katana with white leather covering its hilt, a yellow ribbon trailing from it as well… "What?" Gilver demanded while gripping the hilt of the blade furiously, then turned with narrowed eyes upon hearing Naruto chuckle to himself. "What is this? Where is Sparda!" Gilver demanded furiously while The Shade placed Naruto back onto his feet, the blond smirking as he reached up to remove the remains of his helmet, then dropped it at his side.

"That's the sword I took from Dante… but I guess its not Sparda… but somehow empowered by Sparda's strength to imitate it… looks like Dante pulled the wool over both our eyes with this one… not a bad prank… all things considered." The silver haired youth explained while groaning as his body slowly healed itself from being shot at point blank range by a shotgun. Meanwhile Gilver gritted his teeth at the white-seekers words before narrowing his eyes onto the youth dangerously.

"I see, so that's why you managed to take it… I should've known Dante would use such a tactic to insure its safety from devils." Gilver mused aloud while swinging Yamato in a few experimental arcs, clearly trying to get a feel for the long katana. _'Strange, holding this blade almost feels… familiar… like an old friend has returned.'_ Gilver thought to himself as he heard Naruto scoff while letting out a soft chuckle. "What prey tell do you find so amusing?" Gilver questioned of Naruto flatly and the youth placed a hand over his face with a smirk, The Shade's hand over his shoulder.

"You just don't get it do you…" Naruto noted aloud while holding his hand to the side, The Darkness pulling Gilver's own blade into his free hand. "The Sword, it really doesn't matter how powerful it is… nor do my Keyblades, the truth is, that without a wielder, a sword just collects dust." Naruto stated firmly while Gilver let out a slight laugh before smirking as he looked at the blond with clear amusement.

"I know that better than anyone, and who do you think is better to wield the legendary power of Sparda other than myself? Do you honestly think that worthless thunder demoness is worthy of such an honor?" Gilver demanded of the blond haired youth and Naruto leaned the demonic sword along his shoulders.

"No. But then again… I think anyone is…" Naruto replied while leaning his head back and blowing a breath into his bangs. "Sparda wasn't powerful because of that sword, his true power came from his heart! He cared enough about humanity to protect them from even his own kin, he fought impossible odds and came out victorious because he never wavered in his beliefs, never questioned what his heart or soul were telling him." Naruto declared while glaring at Gilver and took a deep breath. "And you… well… you don't even have a heart, so how could you ever hope to wield **his** power?" Naruto countered and a deep frown crossed over Gilver's features as he gripped Yamato with both hands, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"We'll see about that…" The bandaged devil stated while crouching back as Naruto silently stood across from him, memories of Master-Xehanort flashing before his minds eye. _'Always remember Ventus, it is not the keyblade that makes you special…'_ The wizened voice of his former master echoed out in his mind as he lowered his arm and narrowed his eyes on the incoming Gilver. _'Instead, know that it is your heart that makes the Keyblade special…'_ Master Xehanort stated while Naruto swung Gilver's sword as Gilver swung Yamato at him, the two blades connecting and Gilver's eyes widening as Naruto managed to hold him back.

Snarling furiously, Gilver then shoved Naruto back, the white-seeker skidding back before digging his feet into the ground and Swinging Gilver's blade. Instantly a ring of swords formed around him and a smirk crossed his lips. _'Well now, this trick is sure going to come in handy…'_ The blond mused before frowning as he formed Thirteen blades around his body and then swung a hand, causing all thirteen to swing towards Gilver as one. Scowling, Gilver flipped back and out of the way while then twirling Yamato in hand, his hand freezing as he saw Xion behind the blond. Rolling to the side, and smirking when he noticed she was out of the way, Gilver then focused his power into the demonic blade.

Instantly, a distortion appeared within the air, causing Naruto to curse and quickly dismiss The Shade as Gilver managed to cut through the air in a long line, even cutting through one of the spikes on the far side of the roof. Grunting in pain for a moment, Naruto stowed Gloria away while swinging his arm, his Dark-Armor stretching out into a long black tendril with sharp white spikes at the end. Rolling back to evade the attack, Gilver then lunged forward with surprising speed, Naruto blocking the man's next attack with Gilver's own sword. Glaring at one another for only a moment, the two then shoved back on one another before each twirled their blade in hand.

Swinging their respective swords at one another once more, the two then twirled into a flurry of slashes and swings with the two blades, never once pausing or halting for even a moment as they fought one another. Finishing off by connecting their blades once more, Naruto then lashed out with a kick to Gilver's ribs, before quickly twisting on his heel and swinging his arm out once more. Yet again it formed into a strange tendril, only this time it connected with Gilver, knocking him down before throwing him up into the air. Grunting in the air, Gilver quickly righted himself and brought Yamato down on top of Naruto, the White-Seeker swinging his own blade upwards.

The two swords were thus sent flying out of their hands and they quickly switched to hand-to-hand. Growling lowly the two connected punch after punch with one another, Naruto kneeing Gilver in the gut and then throwing the man to the side. Rolling into a crouch, Gilver flipped up into a spin before bringing his leg down on top of Naruto, slamming him down into the ground. Grabbing Gilver's leg, Naruto then flipped up and swung Gilver around, his head dragging across the floor before Naruto swung him away. The man in green twirled in midair for a moment before skidding across the roof and flipping back to the feet.

"You… are indeed very powerful, young warrior. However, one who fights blindly for other's cannot defeat me." Gilver stated darkly as he took several breaths, Naruto letting out a few panting breaths before frowning towards the devil.

"I don't fight for others… at least not like Sora does, he fights solely for his friends, and only with his friends hearts with his own, is he truly strong… but I'm different. For while I protect my friends, I don't need their power or hearts to make mine stronger… to carry me into battle… never, for if I can't fight on my own, and win my own battles, how can I possibly protect them?" Naruto demanded of the green-clad devil and Gilver arched a slender brow before lightly chuckling under his breath.

"A novel speech, however, its time we end this battle." Gilver stated darkly, Naruto's agreement remaining unsaid between them as they both glared at one another. Narrowing their eyes onto one another, Gilver and Naruto both looked to their lost swords. Lunging at their weapons, the two quickly picked them up before rushing towards one another. As they approached they swung their blades at each other almost at the same time and seemed to cut through one another. A second later, Gilver watched on in shock as a cut appeared on Yamato's blade, the two halves of the weapon falling from his hands before clattering on the ground.

"H-How?" He demanded while turning to Naruto, only to gasp as a massive gash opened across his body. "This sword… it should have cut both you and that worthless blade to pieces!" Gilver growled out as he looked at the white-seeker furiously, Naruto smirking as he reached a hand up to his forehead.

"It's like I said before, it isn't the weapon, but the heart behind it." Naruto started before sweeping his hand through his hair, causing it to form into an array of backwards spikes, Gilver feeling his eyes widen as he did. "My Heart may be shrouded in Darkness, but I still believe in my own strength… and you don't even have a heart. And without it, you can never hope to attain more power." The blond stated while turning his head to look at the man over his shoulder, his eyes returning to their original azure hue. But as he did, Gilver saw someone else glaring at him, someone from his past, a man dressed in blue, with his silver hair also swept back…

"Ver… gil…" He whispered, the name feeling foreign on his tongue even as he fell to the ground and lifted his eyes up to look at the youth. The silver of his hair slowly started to bleed away, soon leaving only the tips of his spiky hair covered in a silver white, his skin paling back to it's original shade as well. Kneeling down, Naruto picked up his helmet / chin-guard and then walked over to Gilver's Shotgun before picking it up and looking it over, clearly uncomfortable with the firearm. But as the blond continued to look over the weapon, his fingers became more and more nimble as he examined it, as if he were somehow absorbing knowledge out of the weapon.

But unknown to Naruto, the same action had been taken by Gilver himself, back when he'd first taken the weapon from the same woman who made Dante's Ebony and Ivory… "Interesting…" Naruto mused before noticing the weapon was designed to hold up to ten shells at any given time. "I don't know much about guns, but even I can tell this is finely crafted piece. You seem to have great tastes in weapons." Naruto noted as he continued to fiddle with the weapon, soon opening it up and raised a brow at a seal that was glowing within the barrel-chamber.

Grunting as the blond continued fiddling with the weapon, Gilver pushed his body upwards and then stumbled onto his feet. Looking to the side, the red-eyed devil gripped the broken half of Yamato's blade with one hand before shuffling his way towards the preoccupied blond. Naruto himself frowned while leaning the gun on his left forearm and frowned when he noticed the weight of it would hamper its aim slightly, but it was a Shotgun… "I like it." Naruto then admitted before turning slightly and then aiming the weapon at a surprised Gilver's face.

"I'll take it." He then decided while pulling the trigger and unloading both shells into the man's skull, sending him flying back with blood and gore splattering across the roof's floor. However, much to Naruto's shock, Gilver still managed to pick himself up, only the blond widened his eyes as the bandages around Gilver's face began to unravel from his bloody face. What he saw, was a familiar mop of silver hair, his skin was an off green-white color with odd blue marks over it, but beyond that and his crimson red eyes, he had a familiar face with almost regal features…

"Dante?" Naruto questioned while kneeling down and then caught Gilver's wrist as he tried to stab him with the piece of Yamato he grasped in his hand.

"No, he's my brother…" Dante himself commented, hands in his coat pockets as he walked onto the roof, Gilver turning to face him with narrowed crimson red eyes.

"Dante…" He growled out while pushing himself back to his feet, Naruto backing away and twirling his new Shotgun in hand before placing it in the loop of one of his belts while Dante formed the true Sparda in his free hand and then leaned it along his shoulders with a smirk.

"Hey Vergil, how 'bout a kiss for your baby brother…" Dante offered mockingly, a disgusted sneer crossing Gilver's face while the silver haired man then pulled Ivory from its holster and held it towards his twin. "Or better yet, how 'bout a kiss from this…" Dante offered with a smirk and an amused smirk crossed Gilver's lips, as he stood hunched over, arms hanging at his sides and the piece of Yamato still clasped tightly in his free hand.

"This seems… almost familiar…" Gilver noted while trudging forward, ethereal blades of azure light forming behind him as he marched towards Dante.

"Yeah, though, last time things weren't quite as dire for you. I guess that kid over there really roughed you up, eh Vergil?" Dante quipped with a sly smirk across his lips as he gazed towards the apposing devil. Gilver however, merely sneered once more, purple demonic energy flowing off of his body in a plethora of wispy tails.

"Understand this, Dante…" Gilver growled out while his eyes gave off a fierce glow, both men ignoring Naruto as he walked to Xion's side and cut her free of her bonds with Gloria. "That name… it's worthless to me, the one who had that name was too weak to survive on his own!" Gilver snarled and a frown crossed Dante's lips as he looked at the mockery of what had once been his twin… "All that matters to me now is power! My soul is screaming at me, the voice echoes within my mind endlessly… Power… give me more! **Power!**" Gilver roared before crouching down and then lunging at Dante with all his strength the crimson clad demon hunter closing his eyes as his brother approached.

"Yeah, well my soul is telling me… to put an end to you." Dante noted as he lunged forward as well, Gilver launching his Summoned Swords towards his brother. Seeing them coming, Dante quickly pulled Ivory's trigger, blowing away each of the swords before gripping the hilt of Sparda tightly. Instantly, there was a flash of brilliant purple power, and now before Gilver, gripping the hilt of Sparda with both hands, was what looked to be The Legendary Dark Knight, Sparda himself. Gilver felt his eyes widen as he saw the Devil before him, a single word crossing his lips as he gazed into Sparda's own brilliant crimson red eyes…

"Father?" And with that final word, Sparda swung the sword upwards, slicing through Gilver and knocking him into the air before twisting on his heel and kicking the fallen devil away. Gilver skidded across the rooftop for a short distance, before finally slowing and coming to a complete stop where his scattered armor still lay. At the same time, his sword, which Naruto was still holding, began to crumple and fade into dust, its power lost as its master faded from this world. Dante in Sparda's form then leaned the massive sword along his shoulders before walking over to where Gilver lay, defeated, battered, and beaten at his feet.

Looking up, a strange smirk worked its way across Gilver's lips as he stared at his brother in the form of his father. As he did so, his red eyes began to dim, and Dante saw a familiar pair of blue eyes gaze up at him… "Now… whose trying… to be like father?" Gilver quipped weakly before closing his eyes and fading away, what sounded like the wail of a baby echoing as the pieces of his obsidian black armor, as well as the two separate pieces of Yamato, vanished along with him.

"**Goodbye, Vergil. Rest in peace this time."** Dante noted aloud and then turned as Trish and Lady made their way up to the roof, a smirk crossing his lips as he returned to his normal form. "Aw man, the babes only just arrived, and the parties already over!" Dante noted with a shake of his head and got an eye-roll from Lady, who then looked over to Naruto as he helped Xion to her feet.

"What are we going to do about them?" Lady asked while nudging towards the two, then looked out into the infinite Darkness that surrounded them. "And for that matter, how do we get home?" She then asked and Dante reached up to stroke his chin for a moment, Sparda leaning against his shoulders till Trish took it from him with a shake of her head. Looking at his blond partner for a moment, Dante then turned on his heel and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Both excellent questions Lady, however you got to remember we're not the experts on what's happening right now… he is." Dante stated while nudging towards Naruto as he placed his helmet / chin-guard back over his head, the black glass of the object slowly reforming over his face. "Yo, man in white, got a minute!" Dante cried out while looking to Naruto, Lady and Trish giving one another a look.

"He's such a child sometimes…" Lady noted with a shake of her head, still following behind him regardless and Trish smirked at her friend.

"I think that's part of his charm." Trish remarked and got an incredulous look from Lady before both friends looked to the said man in red as he spoke with Naruto about their current predicament.

"So you got any ideas on how we could get back home?" Dante asked with an incline of his head and Naruto crossed his arms over his chest while considering his options with the three devil-hunters.

"I'm… not sure… your world seems to have been invaded. Either by Soulless or Heartless, however I'm leaning more towards Soulless at the moment." Naruto began with a wave of one hand and then turned his back to the three, a habit he seemed to have picked up from Master-Xehanort. "While I cannot return you to your own world, I may be able to send you somewhere else…" Naruto continued to muse aloud and Dante shrugged his shoulders while placing his thumbs in the loop of his belt.

"That works for me man, just get us out of here and we're cool… oh, but preferably, I'd like to head somewhere with some Pizza." Dante noted before placing a hand on his stomach and letting out an overdramatic sigh of hunger. "I mean c'mon, I'm starving man…" He added and Naruto chuckled lightly before turning around and reforming No-Heart into his hand, a Dark-Corridor opening seconds later.

"Sadly Dante, I don't even know what 'Pizza' is…" Naruto started to say and ignored the scandalized look on the silver haired devil-hunters face. "However I do know a world you all should feel at home on… so to speak, it is fairly advanced like your own but they hunt the undead. And if you see a "Sir Integra" while you're there, tell her Agent Umbra sent you." Naruto finished and a look crossed Dante's features before grinning to himself as he crossed his arms behind his head.

"Sounds good, and be sure to drop by sometime after me and the ladies set up shop, kid." Dante stated while walking over to and then into the Dark-Corridor with a cocky look on his face. Shaking their heads as the silver haired man walked off, Lady and Trish also walked to the portal, Trish following her silver haired partner while Lady hung back for a moment.

"Oh right, before I forget, you can keep Gloria, I'm sure it'll help you more than it ever helped me." Lady stated before turning on her heel and walking into the Dark-Corridor, leaving Naruto alone with Xion. Blinking for a moment, Xion then looked up to her "Master" with an arched brow.

"Where'd you send them?" She asked curiously and the blond haired youth chuckled to himself, arms crossed over his chest.

"Lets just say "Big Red" and Kitten are going to be having some major backup from now on…" Naruto replied with a chuckle even as he pulled himself and Xion into a Dark-Corridor, the black haired girl shuddering at the thought of what would happen to them on _**that**_ particular world with the likes of the Devil Hunters there with them…

(Olympus Coliseum…)

Liximawl growled as he typed on his laptop, an annoyed look on his face while glaring at Duela angrily. Why is he glaring at the cheerful clown girl so angrily you might ask? That is simple, it is because Duela had brought Megara to them, all but hogtied, and with a gag in her mouth… "Where the hell did you even get this shit to tie her up with?" Liximawl demanded of the red-haired clown woman and Duela snickered to herself before pointing to her backpack. "Then why did you have those in your bag?" He demanded in a low growl and Duela grinned towards him sneakily, causing him to groan as he realized he shouldn't have asked a psychotic clown girl that…

"Cause I'm into role-play of course!" She declared and Liximawl stared at her for a moment before banging his head against his laptop repeatedly. "Uh… Mister-Author-Dude I don't think that's good for your laptop…" Duela noted while Meg mentally sighed and wondered whom the crazy clown girl was, and what horrible crime the brown haired man had done to deserve her undivided attention. Looking up from his laptop with a glare, Liximawl then turned as two more "Dead-Pools" walked out of the coliseum, then placed his foot on a zombies head with a heavily torn and tattered version of Deadpools mask as well as a propeller coming out of its head.

"_**Brains!"**_ The head cried before Liximawl felt his eye twitch violently and kicked the Zombie Deadpool or "Headpool" away with a snarl on his face. Glaring at the other two Deadpools, Liximawl frowned when he saw the youngest of them rolling on the floor laughing loudly. The young child was clearly another Deadpool simply by looking at his outfit. He was wearing a mask identical to Deadpool's save for its larger eyes, a red shirt with black shoulders and sides, a deadpool symbol on the front and a red scarf around his neck, a pair of red gloves with black padding at the backs of his fists, a simple brown utility belt, a pair of red pants with more black material over his hips, and a pair of red boots with a black metal plate over their cuffs and black soles.

"**Nice one!"** Kidpool declared loudly, while the other Deadpool snickered to himself at his side. This older Deapool had a more "Costume" like outfit rather than military styled gear. He wears a full body, skintight, suit that has a red reaching up from his groin then branching out from his chest to cover his arms with a single bar heading up the front of his throat, the rest of the suit being black, a pair of red belts are crossed over his waist, with red gloves with large black cuffs covering his hands, red boots over his feet, and a red mask that was seemingly molded to his head with a black pattern over the front with white lenses over his eyes, two katana sheathed to his back, and four Kunai strapped to his left thigh.

"Not bad, not bad at all, that was a pretty good one Boss-Man." The Ultimate Deadpool, AKA Wadey Wilson, noted to himself before looking to Megara and raising a brow. "Whoa, when did you get into BDSM boss-man?" The man questioned and Liximawl frowned deeply before glaring at the two Deadpools angrily.

"I'm not, but Duela's into role-playing and thought it'd be funny to tie her up like that." Liximawl replied and Wadey blinked for a moment before rubbing his chin with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Somehow with all the costumes and different personalities she's always using, that really doesn't surprise me." Wadey replied and Liximawl shrugged his shoulders, not really surprised about that particular facet of Duela's insane persona either. Sighing, the man then blinked before groaning as a dog urinated on the bound and gagged Hercules before somehow snickering. The dog was a mangy looking brown furred mutt of a dog with black bands around each leg, a red and black shirt similar to Deadpools costume with a red belt around its waist with a knife in the belt, and a variation of Deadpools mask without the eye lenses.

"Dogpool stop that!" Liximawl shouted at the animal and it blinked before running off, leaving the black clad man with the other two versions of Deadpool. "Now then, did you guys finish up with the coliseum? Oh, and where's "Baraka-pool" at?" Liximawl questioned of the two and Kid-pool started to laugh evilly while rubbing his hands together.

"**We left that lame knockoff of our epic awesomeness buried under some rubble! Not to mention impaled by steel pipes! Lets seem him teleport out of that!"** The child said while grinning under his mask, Wadey merely rolling his eyes before looking to where Gilgamesh was sitting on Pegasus like he was a chair, the horse looking at him with clear annoyance as he did.

"Yo, Gil! What you doing man?" Wadey questioned of the man and Gilgamesh crossed his legs and let out a sigh while propping his chin on his raised fist.

"I'm just starting to wonder when I'll see my chosen rival Bartz again… after all the years and dozens of different warriors I've battled, I'm starting to miss doing battle against him!" Gilgamesh replied and Wadey nodded his head slowly before looking over to where Liximawl was still hard at work.

"Yo, Mister-Author-Man…" He started to ask before getting a glare from the black clad man.

"No! I'm not putting Bartz in just so Gilgamesh can fight him in the damn tournament… unless I get like a hundred reviews demanding him…" He declared rather loudly then muttered under his breath and Wadey held up his wrists before turning to face Gilgamesh and shrugging his shoulders.

"Worry not, I will still do my best against any and all challengers in the competition! For if the Great Gilgamesh were to shy away from battle, how could I call myself the greatest warrior to ever live!" Gilgamesh declared while jumping into a kabuki pose, Kid-pool and Wadey snickering them to themselves as he did so. Rolling his eyes, Liximawl then looked to the side as Deadpool and Lady-Deadpool returned, dragging a couple bound and gagged girls behind them.

"Seriously, why do all you nut cases feel the need to bind and gag everyone?" Liximawl demanded flatly and Deadpool looked to his female counterpart for a moment before both shrugged. "Urgh… fine, then just dump them with the others." Liximawl ordered while pointing his thumb to the pile of bound / gagged people they had captured. Sighing as they did so, the man then reached up and rubbed his shoulder for a moment before drumming his fingers on his laptop, contemplating what he should write next…

TBC…

AN: I hope this chapter clears up the whole thing with people wondering about the identity of "The Neo-Shade", which comprised a majority of questions about the previous chapter… Also, for those who don't know, in DMC one, Yamato was able to turn into Sparda (Force-Edge) when used by The Legendary Dark Knight, hence it's ability in this chapter…

Naruto's Keyblade's…

Dark-Heart…

Soul-Blade…

Void-Gear…

Vorpal-Key…

One-Winged-Angel…

No-Heart…

Lost-Memory…

List of Soulless: Some reviewers have wanted a list of The Soulless and the types that have been introduced thus far. These are all the soulless, minus some details about the court, and without the Black-Soulless, those are Unique individuals among them so I figured they are more like characters than types.

Pure-Soulless: A pure Soulless is little more than a white Silhouette in a humanoid shape with black eyes. They have next to no abilities, and are considered the "Shadows" of the Soulless.

Tier 1:

Prism: the first tier 1 Soulless and most basic type, similar to a "Dark-Ball" as they are only slightly less common than Fanatics. They have powers over simple light manipulation, such as lasers and making themselves invisible, they can also call on other nearby Soulless for aide with a loud screech.

Fanatic: The "Neo-Shadow" of the Soulless Breed, The Fanatic has sharp claws that it lashes out with viciously, ignoring its powers over light.

Zealot: A more versatile variation of the Fanatic and considered the Counter to the "Nova-Shadow" of the Heartless Breed. A Zealot is not only faster than the Fanatic, but its left hand has been replaced with an Ax for slicing and cutting their enemies.

Acolyte: Matching the "Possessor" Heartless, an Acolyte is a master of the mystical arts beyond any other. Their powers of magic include the ability to become invisible, transform into a white replica of their opponent when alone to become a "Posi-Form" of sorts, and "Summon" other Soulless, much like the Prisms.

Tier 2:

Crusader: Considered the "Invisible" of the Soulless Breed, a Crusader is a fierce opponent well above the abilities of its lesser "Female" cousins. The Crusader is known for the single wing that allows it to fly and the sword / shield that replace its arms.

Paladin: A Soulless, which is considered the only equal to the "Dark Thorn" of the Heartless hordes. A Paladin uses its two wings to fly faster and longer than the basic Crusader, while also using its mastery over Light to attack and destroy all enemies.

Martyr: Unlike other Soulless, the Martyr isn't known for its abilities in combat. Instead, The Martyr, like its name suggest, is more useful as a sacrifice, killing itself in order to both blind enemies, and both heal and empower its wounded comrades.

Juggernaught: The Only Soulless capable of fighting a "Dark-Side" Heartless on even grounds. The Juggernaught is a massive Soulless with little intellect, relying only on its brute strength to win its battles, as well as moderate control of Light.

Tier 3: Unique Soulless Leaders / The Court of Order…

Seraph: Original Name: Andross. The Original Soulless, as well as current leader of the Court of Order, Seraph's only goal seems to be to purge Darkness from all worlds. Unique Power: Transforming Pure-Soulless in Court Members…

Inquisitor: Original Name: Unknown. A strangely "Elderly" looking Soulless with a calm composed disposition with unknown motives and plans even within the Court of Order itself. Unique Power: Unknown.

Cenobite: Original Name: Unknown. A tall Soulless with a deep monotone voice, Cenobite is unique within the Court for being unforgiving and cruel towards even those born in the light. Unique Power: Unknown.

Nephilim: Original Name: Sylvia Blood. The only known female member of the court, blindly devoted to Seraph, her now "Pure" form hides a truly angry hateful soul, believed by many to be a Court member only for her unique gift, rather than any kind of skill or power. Unique Power: Able to forcefully transform Somebodies into Soulless.

Arch-Angel: Original Name: Unknown. A winged Soulless whose loyalty to Seraph is second to none, his own motives for wishing to destroy the darkness are shrouded in mystery. Unique Power: Unknown.

Saint: Original Name: Unknown. A simple Soulless with a hidden past, his ability to bend and control the light is second to none even within the court of order, his actions suggest he and Inquisitor have met before. Unique Power: Unknown.

Redeemer: Original Name: Uchiha Sasuke. During a battle with Naruto Sasuke's being was split in two, one half Dark, one half light, the light carried his soul and Seraph saw fit to replace Nephilim with their newest warrior, The Redeemer. Unique Power: Unknown.


	38. Family he never knew

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 37**_: _**Family he never knew**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

_(The Past…)_

_Ventus looked out across the sea, one leg lifted up as he gazed outwards from atop a stone wall. "Son, if you keep staring like that you'll lose sight of what's right next to you." A man's voice came and Ventus grinned while turning around and pushed himself from his perch to stand before his father. The man is tall, approximately 6'2", with his grey hair swept back save for a few bangs at his temples, his eyes are a deep wintry blue, with a noticeable scar under his right eye, his skin is heavily tanned with a toned athletic build, and a small amount of stubble on his face. He wears a long blue button down shirt that reaches his thighs with a black belt slipped around his waist with a silver buckle, some brown slacks, and a pair of brown boots with old bandages wrapped around his shins over his pants._

"_Sorry Dad, but the ocean just looks so beautiful at sunset!" Ventus declared and his father shook his head lightly before walking over and sitting next to his blond haired son, gazing out at the ocean silently. Tilting his head, Ven slipped back onto his perch at his father's side and stared out at the ocean with him, both listening to the waves crash against the wall below. Frowning to himself, Ven's father then looked to his son and noticed the clearly distracted way he was gazing at the sea._

"_What's really wrong, son? You know you don't have to hide anything from me, right?" The man asked his young son and Ventus blinked for a moment before grinning too wide to be real._

"_No! Nothings wrong, dad! I'm just…" The blond haired youth started to say before stopping at his father's disbelieving expression. "Oh alright, you know how that old guy was saying I had a lot of potential or something… and that he could help me change that potential into something great?" Ventus questioned of his father and the man slowly nodded his head, well aware, as he'd been there with him. "Well… I'm… I just wonder if I should go with him or not." Ventus admitted and his father remained silent, though placed a hand to the side of his head with a grimace._

"_I mean, if I have all this potential, and someone wants to teach me… then shouldn't I learn as much as I can? And it'd be so cool to go out and see the world, maybe even other worlds! And I'd be able to come back to see you and mom when I was finished training… but I still wish I knew what to do." Ventus mused aloud, while his father closed his eyes and gripped his right pant leg in a clenched fist. _'C'mon Clyde! We just have to find this one last treasure and we can quit for good, and live in the lap of luxury while we're at it!'_ The voice of his long since gone friend called out to him in his mind, Clyde silently biting his lip to stop the memory. Letting out a breath, the man then looked back to his son, as the blond haired youth brought his knees up to his chest._

"_I just don't know what to do dad… I'd like to go with him and learn about what my potential is… but I don't want to leave you, mom, and Interceptor alone…" Ventus continued to explain and Clyde slowly nodded his head at his son's side, a far off look in the man's wintry eyes. "I don't know, what do you think I should do?" Ventus questioned of his father curiously and Clyde closed his eyes and reached up to rub at the faded scar under his right eye._

"_Following your dreams is a noble goal, however don't forget the people who walk beside you as he do… or… abandon them when they need you most. When you do that is when you've gone too far to turn back… and that is when you question if you like what you've become." Clyde replied with a slight crack in his voice at the end then let out a shaky breath. However his son seemed confused by the wisdom he'd imparted, causing the man to smile faintly while clasping a hand to his son's shoulder. "Ventus, it's your life, you must be the one to decide what you'll do… and no matter what that may be I'll always stand beside you." Clyde told his son kindly and Ventus blinked for a moment before smiling, a true smile this time, and turned to look back out at the ocean._

"_Do you think mom would be okay if I left?" Ven questioned of his father, Clyde humming as he reached up to scratch his cheek._

"_I think… I'll be sleeping in Interceptor's doghouse for the next few years…" He started and Ventus couldn't help a laugh while Clyde smiled faintly, then turned stone serious. "But, I also think that she'd understand that you were just listening to your heart and following your dreams." Clyde added while patting his son's shoulder and Ventus closed his eyes with a thoughtful look before nodding his head._

"_Alright! Then I know what I'm going to do!" Ven started to declare before stopping for a moment and frowned to himself. "Wait, but wouldn't Interceptor be lonely without me around to play with him?" The blond haired youth wondered and Clyde coughed while looking away from his eight-year-old son._

"_Er… no… I'm sure I could spare a little time to play with him a little…" Clyde replied while a very different thought was going through his head. _'Not to mention your mother is expecting another little bundle of joy…'_ He thought with a slight shiver as he remembered when she was pregnant with Ventus…_

"_Oh! Alright then!" Ven decided with a grin as he sat back down with a smile on his face, having decided what he was going to do at long last. As he did, a small smile crossed Clyde's face for a moment before he looked up to the sky and closed his eyes. _'Baram, if you can ever forgive me for what I did… then please… look after my son, and make sure he stays safe.'_ The man thought to himself and then pushed himself up and turned on his heel._

"_C'mon Ventus, we better get on before your mother turns me into kibble for Interceptor." Clyde noted and Ventus snickered to himself before twisting and leaping from his perch to follow behind his father as they made their way through town…_

(?)

The sun beat down on his forehead as he lay upon a sandy beach, the sound of gentle waves wafting upon it echoing in his ears. _'Waves? Am I… Home?'_ The tired old voice of Master Xehanort questioned within his mind, the blond feeling his eyes slowly opening up to gaze towards the clear blue sky. _'Everything feels… so warm…'_ He noted to himself before looking back his eyes widening when he saw the burnt remains of the small island outside of Destiny-Islands mainland. Twisting around, the blond pushed himself upwards and then widened his eyes in shock. "What the hell happened here!" The blond demanded, feeling righteous fury well up within him as he got up and then walked towards the old tree-houses remains.

"Who… who would do this?" Naruto wondered to himself, a deep scowl working its way across his face as he did, his eyes turning a brilliant azure blue that seemed to nearly glow. "I won't, I can't let this world be spoiled…" He growled out, as part of the young Master Xehanort's voice somehow worked its way into his own. Forming Lost-Memories into his right hand Naruto twirled the blade in hand before growling. "Master, there's a _**certain trick**_ to fix this place, right?" Naruto muttered as an old memory of Xehanort's passed before his eyes, the blond quickly getting up and circling the large tree in the center of the island before coming to a small cave.

'_Now listen, Xehanort, Eraqus. As new Masters of The Keyblade Order there is certain knowledge that you need to be privy too. The first and foremost is for the protection of the worlds we guard.'_ The voice of Xehanort's master echoed out in the blond haired youth's mind while light formed around Lost Memory.

"_Really… what is it master?"_ Eraqus had questioned while Naruto placed his hand onto the side of the cave and slipped in.

'_Keyblades are what link us to the heart's of all worlds; with them we can create many fantastic miracles. We can heal wounds, channel magic, even travel to other worlds. The one thing they can't do is unlock the true Heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts. Only one key could ever awaken that… but, as I was saying, there is a Certain Trick that can be used, should a world be destroyed, to restore it yourself.'_ The master continued to explain while Naruto grunted, crouching down and making his way down a short path covered in sharp rocks.

'_If ever a world is damaged, you yourselves can fix it, or even change that world if you like. The same trick was engineered on this world as well, but regardless, know that all you need do, is find the heart of that world, and will it to repair itself…'_ The ancient master's voice echoed out while Naruto came out in a cave where a wooden door sat at the very end. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto let out a breath before holding Lost Memory forward and watched on as a Keyhole appeared on the door, a burst of wind blowing out before Naruto pushed forward on his key.

"Restore!" He declared loudly as a brilliant flash of light exploded from the ivory colored keyblade and then flowed into the keyhole. Instantly a brilliant light spread, soon covering the entire island and bathing it in light. Mere moments later, it faded, the glow spreading out like thousands of flower petals in the morning breeze. Falling to his knees when he was done, Naruto let out a groan before looking around and then made his way out of the gave with a grunt. _'Ugh… using Light really isn't my forte… ugh, I feel like an elephant sat on my head!'_ The blond complained to himself before then walking out of the cave and then smiled softly seeing the land once again green, the trees wafting softly in the breeze.

"This is how… it's supposed to be." He decided while walking forward, looking around at the island was now back in pristine condition. Soon coming to the edge of the ramp at the side, Naruto slowly sat down on the bank that outlined the small waterfall and tree house in the center of the island. _'Such a tiny place… it's all just too small…'_ Naruto thought to himself and then leaned his head back with a smile on his face, crossing his arms behind his head. _'But, perhaps, it's just the right size for a child.'_ The blond haired youth decided to himself, while allowing the cool breeze to softly wash over his body.

"Master-Xehanort…" Naruto whispered while reaching a hand towards the sky while his eyes slowly opened as he felt something. "You built most of this place yourself, when you were little… when you were all alone." Naruto mumbled before turning and sitting on the edge of the plane before a sudden memory came to mind. "Wait… Shit where's, Xion!" Naruto demanded while looking around and let out a low growl under his breath angrily.

"Why is it that whenever I bring her with me we end up separated from each other?" Naruto grumbled out under his breath while making his way around the island with a deep frown on his face. Coming to the other side, Naruto walked around, grunting as his head continued to pound in his ears. _'That is the absolute last time I ever use light, it hurts like a bitch!'_ The blond thought to himself while looking around the old bridges at the other side of the island, then around the palm trees further away before checking a few small caves for the girl. Seeing no sign of her the blond frowned while reaching up a hand to cup his chin with a deep frown on his face.

"Crap, that means she's on the Mainland, which means I need to get to the mainland to actually look for her." Naruto grumbled to himself, the feelings that Xehanort had had in concerns with the mainland affecting him. However the blond then looked down at himself, and frowned at the shredded, torn, and absolutely ruined remains of his clothes… "But before I do that, I'm going to need some new clothes." Naruto decided while crossing his arms and walking back to the front of the island with a frown across his face.

Making his way to the raised plane on the beach, Naruto cupped his chin and looked around for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Right, you left that there didn't you." The blond mused as he got down on his knees and started to tap on the many wooden planks. Soon coming to some old loose ones that creaked, the blond pulled them loose and tossed them to the side. Reaching inside of a small hidden space, the blond haired youth then pulled out an old and relatively untouched box from within it, a single capital letter X on the top of it.

"X plus Another or even No-Heart, equals, Xehanort." Naruto noted to himself while pulling the lid from the box and placing it at his side. Within the box, the blond found a few old sets of clothes, left by the old master a very long time ago. "You never wanted to get rid of anything, you were like other orphans, you were both unable and unwilling to let anything go, so you stashed these away in a place no one would ever find them… at least without your memories they wouldn't." Naruto mumbled before looking at the tattered, torn, and shredded remains of his own outfit with a grimace. "And I do need sturdier clothes…" He decided while looking around and walked to the old shed that sat at the side of the beach.

Entering within it, though muttering to himself as he had to enter into the stairway within it for true privacy since most of the shed had been burned away, Naruto started to change into the new clothes. Sifting through his coat and pockets, the blond laid out anything he wanted to keep before throwing the rest of his ruined clothing to the side and slipping into the new outfit. Pulling on the last of his clothes, the blond then started on pulling on a few familiar accessories before looking to the weapons and items he'd collected on his journey across the many worlds of darkness.

Picking up the throwing knives from the Hellsing-Organization he slipped them into a pouch on his right thigh. He then affixed the brassard from the group onto his left arm, while placing the shotgun into the loop of his belts. Placing Gloria into one of the pouches on the back of his waist along with the Wayfinder into the same pouch. Placing the many notes he'd obtained into the other pouch, the blond then sheathed the silver short sword over the two pouches. Finished with his affect, the blond then stretched out his limbs before walking out of the shed and onto the beach. Cracking his neck, the blond haired youth then stretched out his arms for a moment before tossing his old thoroughly ruined clothes into a Dark-Corridor and making his way back down the beach.

As he did, he felt the memories of all those who walked this path before him, he saw faces flash before his eyes, and names echo in his ears. Xehanort. Vanitas. Terra. Riku. They had all walked down this beach at one time or another, and all of them had ultimately ended up consumed by Darkness, with only one of them truly escaping its grasp. His new boots caused deep impressions in the sand as he soon came to a stop at the edge of the beach. His blue eyes gazed outwards into the distant horizons where the main-island lay and for only a moment, he wondered if this world was truly this tiny. _'This world is just…'_ The words of a young Master-Xehanort echoed in his mind before the blond finished them himself.

"Too small." He echoed out while gazing out into the distant horizon sternly, his eyes briefly flashing a familiar amber-gold color.

The blond haired youth is now wearing a long high collared sleeveless button down white shirt with the some of uppermost and bottom buttons undone, a skintight sleeveless black shirt beneath that, a pair of black pants, a pair of knee high black boots with a silver trim, he also wears a pair of forearm length white gloves with black forearm protectors over them, a long tailed black waistcoat, with a pair of belts synched around his waist with two pouches stationed at the back of his waist, a pouch strapped to his right thigh, and a pair of white straps formed into an X with Ven's silver heart shaped Keyblade crest at the center over his torso.

Reaching a hand up, the youth swept his silver tipped blond hair back, creating an array of backwards spikes while his bangs persisted in getting in his face, in a way similar to how Sora and Ven's own always persisted in doing so. His now clearly pointed ears still managed to peak out of his hair however, and his brilliant azure blue eyes continued to stare out at the horizon before he noticed a boat heading his way from the mainland. _'Someone must've seen the light show… and a boat means I have a way to get to the mainland and a way to find Xion.'_ He silently mused to himself while crossing his arms over his chest and smirking to himself. However the smirk soon faded away as he saw an older blond haired woman in a boat, the woman soon docked the boat and rushed out, only to quickly come to a stop upon seeing him.

Naruto however blinked and wondered why the woman looked so familiar to him. She had a pretty face, though somehow he thought it looked familiar, with brilliant azure blue eyes, her long golden hair had a red clip holding her bangs to one side, the rest of her hair was held back by a blue cloth that was wrapped around a length of her hair, and finally she seemed to have an average build with tanned skin. She was wearing a long red dress with white straps over her shoulders with white straps crossing over her hips, a scarily familiar crown shaped pendant hanging from around her neck, with a pair of simple black sandals, a black wristband on her right wrist with a watch on her left, a simple white ring worn on her left ring finger.

"Do I… know you?" Naruto asked the woman and she blinked before letting out a sigh, her head dropping as she did. _'Weird lady… and that's something I'd do if I was disappointed.'_ Naruto noted to himself while the woman grinned and rubbed the back of her neck, causing him to twitch.

"Yeah sorry, I thought my son had finally come home when I saw all the lights over here…" The woman admitted and Naruto raised a brow as the woman looked out to the sea with a worried frown on her face.

"You must be really worried about him." Naruto noted kindly as the woman sat down and wrapped her arms around her legs with a pout.

"Yeah… but he's always heading off to Kami knows where for "adventure and excitement" while also leaving his poor mother to worry at home…" The woman replied while placing her chin against her knees while Naruto frowned to himself, still wondering why the woman looked so familiar to him.

"Wait… Kami?" Naruto questioned with a raised brow and the woman blinked before letting out an annoyed grunt.

"Yeah I know, what's Kami right? In my native language it means god." She replied suddenly and Naruto couldn't help a chuckle as he looked at the woman.

"Domo arigato, Neechan." He stated with a grin and she blinked before her head snapped over to him with wide eyes. "That's my native language as well." He explained with a grin and the woman blinked before smiling to herself and getting back to her feet. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto, how 'bout you?" Naruto questioned while holding out a hand to the woman and she took it to get to her feet and brush off the back of her dress.

"My name is Linegod Kazehana. Formerly Ukitaka Kazehana." Kazehana replied and then looked at the blond haired youth cheerfully. "So if you know my language you must've come from the east right?" She asked and Naruto silently nodded, deciding it better not to explain where he truly came from. "Oh wonderful! Then you have to come home with me, you can stay with me and my daughter Rika until your parents find you." She decided with a nod while grabbing his wrist and pulling the youth behind her.

"W-wait! That's really not necessary!" Naruto tried to say as she continued to pull him by his wrist and towards the dock.

"Yes it is! I insist! Besides I haven't been able to talk to anyone in my native tongue in nearly two decades, my son doesn't want to learn it and my daughter is constantly trying to make up for it with studies at school so…" The woman left off and Naruto mentally sighed before consciously following the woman, then frowning when she started grinning towards him mischievously. "So… your name is Fishcake?" She asked with a grin and Naruto gave her a look while crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's Maelstrom… Miss, Wind flower." He grumbled out while giving her a look and the blond haired woman merely snickered to herself.

"Sorry, it's just that I haven't been able to make fun of someone with a name like yours since Ichigo-Sempai left to go back to the east." The woman replied, Naruto following her as she walked towards her boat with a smile on her face, a smirk crossing Naruto's lips as she mentioned the name.

"Strawberry? What did he do to get a name like that…" He wondered mostly to himself with an amused grin on his face and Kazehana nodded her head in agreement with the young blond.

"I think it was supposed to mean Guardian, but people almost always look at the funny meaning of a persons name instead." Kazehana noted and Naruto nodded his head in agreement while stretching out his arms and crossing them behind his neck.

"So if no one else speaks our language, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked the woman and Kazehana smiled faintly while rubbing the back of her head.

"Well… when I was little my parents moved here, so of course I had to come with. I went to school and such, met my future husband, and thought he was a douche at the time I might him, married his ass, had two kids, the usual." The woman replied with a shrug of her shoulders while Naruto looked at her in a slight amount of surprise.

"Sounds like a pretty good life all things considered." Naruto noted and Kazehana nodded her head in agreement with the blond haired youth.

"Yeah I suppose so… though I sometimes wonder about my son… he can be such an airhead at times, and he's constantly running off and leaving me here to worry my self sick about him." Kazehana admitted with a short huff while Naruto frowned slightly before cracking his knuckles with an evil grin.

"Maybe I can beat some sense into him for you." Naruto offered only to halt and shiver as the woman turned to him with a gentle smile, with what looked like a spectral vision of the Shinigami forming behind her…

"Oh there's no need for that, I'm perfectly capable of reigning in my own children!" She offered cheerfully while Naruto felt a shiver run the length of his spine as he gazed at the woman. _'Holy shit… Shikamaru and Kiba were right, moms __are__ scary.'_ Naruto thought to himself while Kazehana led him to her boat and sat down, the blond doing so as well and looking towards the mainland for a moment before grabbing the oars. "I can do that." She suddenly told the blond and Naruto merely gave a warm grin to the woman in response, one that instantly reminded her of her son.

"Nah, I insist I do it myself." The blond haired youth replied while using the oars to push them out to sea.

"Your parents must've beaten manners into your head… I can't get Sora to do anything for me without threatening him…" Kazehana noted with a pout and Naruto blinked in surprise before grinning weakly towards the blond woman. _'So this is Sora's mother… what kind of idiot worries such a kind woman? I really might have to beat his ass into the ground when I see him next.'_ The blond haired youth wondered to himself before rowing out towards the mainland.

"Actually… I'm an orphan, I never really knew my parents." The blond haired youth replied and Kazehana looked at him sadly before looking away.

"Oh, um… sorry. I…" She started to say but Naruto shook his head.

"Nah, it's alright, it's happened before and I'm sure it'll happen again." The blond haired youth replied while Kazehana leaned back and enjoyed the fresh breeze, a small frown crossing Naruto's lips as he looked at her. _'I wonder… if I'm Sora's other… is she my mom's?'_ The blond haired youth wondered to himself before shaking his head and focusing on getting them to the mainland. _'Don't worry Xion, I'll find you.'_ The blond haired youth thought to himself as he continued to row the boat closer to the mainland…

(Twilight Town…)

A man with long silver hair and violet eyes sits at a bar with a light groan; his face and body partially covered in scars, dressed in a loose button down shirt that is lilac at the front and violet at the back, a long black trench coat with gold lining and a gold triangular pattern over the high-collar is worn over his shoulders, and is kept in place by a short silver chain attached to two skull shaped pins at either side of the coat, a purple sash with swirling white designs around his waist, black pants with a skull buckled black belt synched around his waist, and lilac boots with swirling lavender designs over them.

"This is not my idea of a good time…" He noted to himself while looking to a blond haired girl sitting at his side with an annoyed glare pointed at him, an enormous black / brown furred dog with a harness over its shoulders resting beside of her seat. The girl is an unfortunate companion to this man, her and her dog, not to mention the wily old man that takes care of her. The three were tagalongs, and the reason he'd been all but stuck in Twilight Town for several years. Though he had to admit, it wasn't like he had anything better to do other than find a nice casino and gamble. But, after putting his life on the line for years, simple gambling was somewhat less appealing than it used to be.

Still, he often missed his pirate days, the adventure, the thrills, the treasure, and of course the chances to gamble a little! But as he started to think like that, he also mused that some things were more important than thrills, though he really did miss gambling. However as he thought like that, the girl at his side frowned before quickly sketching something and tossed a piece of paper over the man's head with a smirk. Only a moment later the man grunted as a random hammer fell onto his head, the girl smirking as she innocently whistled while looking to the side. Narrowing his eyes, the silver haired man looked to the Random-Hammer with a frown, instantly noting how familiar it looked.

"I really hate your sketch ability when you use it on me…" The man grumbled while the blond haired girl smirked towards him in that sassy way he'd come to hate.

The girl at his side is only twelve years old, with most of her wavy blond hair pushed up into a red bandanna tied at the back of her head with a gold lining and a bright yellow feather stuck into it, her skin is tanned from her many years out in the sun on adventures with her friends, with a red drop of paint under her left eye, a black tube-top, a choker collar with a blue gem hanging around her neck, what looks like a short yellow cape hanging down her back and wrapped around her collar and right shoulder, a studded leather band around her left bicep, a pair of poofy red pants with yellow flower designs, a yellow sash wrapped around her waist with a blue rope tied over it holding an elegant Dagger at her right hip and a large brown leather pouch on her left hip, and finally, and a pair of pointy toed red boots.

"Live with it." She offered with amusement twinkling in her emerald green orbs while he leaned his cheek into one hand and glared at the bartender.

"Barkeep, bring me another!" He declared only for the blond haired girl to give him an annoyed look.

"Alcohol is bad for you." She scolded and the man reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I don't care! I'll do what I like! And if I want to get drunk then I'll get drunk brat!" He declared and saw the blond girl frown before quickly panting something else on her paper while the dog at her side got up and walked away with a shake of its head. Seeing the look on the girl's face, the silver haired man felt his eyes widen and held up his hands. "N-No Relm! Don't!" He exclaimed only for her to touch the end of her brush to the paper and it to glow brilliantly. "I hate you…" The man growled out before he grabbed his own neck and started to punch himself, knocking himself back and out of his seat. Smiling, Relm then turned towards the bartender, who was shaking his head with an amused look on his face.

"He won't be needing anymore, thanks." She offered pleasantly before pushing with an amused look on her face, her dog laying at her feet faithfully. However an old man then walked into the bar, stepped over the struggling silver haired pirate and sat next to the feisty blond girl.

"Realm, are you causing trouble for Setzer again?" The old man asked with a frown, already well aware that she was and merely wanting her to admit her wrongdoing. The old man is very old, with his white hair formed into a Mohawk, his eyebrows are big and bushy, and he has a bushy mustache and beard on his face. He wears a sleeveless dark green muscle shirt, loose fitting yellow pants with a blue sash around his waist and green pointed shoes, a pair of blue wristbands, and a high-collared red cape with gold lining. Instead of answering the old man, the blond haired girl tried to pass off the cute innocent act, however the old man sighed and looked to the bartender.

"She didn't do nothing but paint something…" The Bartender offered with a shrug of his shoulders and the old man chuckled nervously.

"Yes… I have a very special little granddaughter!" The old man declared before shooting a slightly scathing look to the blond, only to let out a breath as she ignored him and sipped on a milkshake the bartender had made for her… with some coaxing.

"Special is putting it mildly." The Bartender noted aloud with a smirk while Relm sipped her milkshake, the old man reaching up to rub his head tiredly.

"I swear, she's making me age even faster!" The old man declared, getting a laugh from the bartender by the said girl gave the old man an irritated look.

"Fuddy duddy!" She declared and the Bartender laughed even harder, the old man shaking his head before looking to where Setzer was still struggling with himself. Turning back to his "Special" little granddaughter the old man then poked her forehead with an annoyed look on his face.

"Now realm, release Setzer or you can't come with us to the old mansion!" The old man warned, the blond girl's eyes hardening as she glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Who says you can make me…" She countered and the old man hung his head and turned to the bartender, looking like he was about ready to cry.

"Oh me oh my… she's almost reached that stubborn teenage stage!" The old man declared a little over-dramatically and the Bartender winced, though idly noted that the blond haired girl would be a real knockout when she was fully developed. However he then shook his head and leaned forward with a curious look on his face.

"Why are you folks headed over to the Old Mansion? No one's lived over there in years." The Bartender noted and then frowned as he tapped his chin for a moment, Relm and the old man watching him. "Well, 'cept for Clyde and his family when they visited, an' stayed there…" The Bartender noted and the old man nodded his head before smiling towards him as he patted Relm on the head, annoying the near teen greatly.

"Aye, that was actually Relm's family, we're heading over to see if her older brother has been there." The old man replied and a strange look crossed Relm's features as she wondered if she should even bother looking for a brother that she couldn't even remember ever meeting.

"Oh yeah, they had a son didn't they… didn't he live with that Xehanort guy?" The Bartender mused to himself in question, the old man and Relm both looking to one another before shrugging their shoulders. "In any case, you might want to talk to Hayner Pence, and Olette, or even the Discipline Squad they like to explore the city, if he's been around they'd probably know." The Bartender offered and the old man reached up and rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hmmm… I see… would you happen to have a picture of these kids?" The old man questioned and the Bartender shook his head before looking down to the still struggling Setzer with amusement.

"Nah, but Setzer there fought Hayner in the Struggle Tournament." The Bartender offered and the old man and Relm both turned to look down at the struggling Setzer for a moment before the old man gave his granddaughter an annoyed look.

"Let him loose, Relm." The old man ordered and Relm huffed for a moment before snapping her fingers, releasing her old on Setzer who quickly stood up and snarled towards the blond haired girl.

"You insufferable little brat!" He declared angrily and Relm rolled her eyes while her grandfather gave the silver haired man a look.

"Calm down Setzer, you're just agitated cause they don't have any casino's in Twilight Town." The old man noted and Setzer felt his brow twitch before sitting down, still glaring at Relm angrily. "Now then, can you lead us to a boy named, Hayner? The Bartender said you've met him before." The old man then questioned and Setzer raised a brow for a moment before cupping his chin with a thoughtful look.

"I suppose I could… though last I saw him was when I bested him in the last Struggle." He noted more to himself than anyone while Relm went back to sipping her milkshake with a happy smile on her face. Shaking his head, Setzer then focused a look onto the old man and narrowed his eyes. "Why would we need to look for him anyways, Strago?" Setzer questioned of the old man who reached up and rubbed his chin with a frown across his face.

"I want to find what little remains of Relm's other family, her older brother, Ventus Arrowny." Strago replied with a stern look, Setzer frowning as he looked to Relm before grinning as he could dump the old man and "Brat" onto this Ventus kid!

"Sounds a bit like an Air-Head, but I'll find Hayner if it gets you two off my back." Setzer agreed while pushing his way out of his seat and then turned with a flourish and an amused look on his face. "It'll be nice to return to my old life-style without you two around to annoy me." Setzer continued with a slight wave as he walked out of the bar, Strago shaking his head as he poked Relm in the side of the head. Blinking for a moment the girl then sighed while pushing her drink away and stepping off of her seat.

"Alright Grandpa, lets go." Relm offered as Strago got up and the two walked out of the bar, the girl's dog following behind them faithfully as always…

(?)

Sora Linegod, currently one of the most well known of all Keybearers among the worlds, couldn't help but have the strangest feeling that something important was happening, and he didn't know what it was. _'Then again, I have that feeling really often nowadays… used to be, I was always smack dab in the middle of anything important, but now it's like I'm taking a backseat to someone else's adventure.'_ The brown haired boy thought to himself while steering his Gummiship, The Excalibur, through the blackness of the pathways between the worlds.

"Gawsh, where are we goin' to, Sora?" Sora's good friend Goofy questioned from behind the brown haired youth and he grinned.

"To a place King-Mickey wanted us to check out called the "Mirage Arena". He said it served some greater purpose a long time ago but it hasn't been used in a long while." Sora replied and Goofy frowned as he could almost swear he'd heard of the Mirage Arena somewhere before, but just couldn't quite remember where. He actually missed Donald for that reason among many others, while Goofy was aware his physical abilities were impressive for such a clumsy fellow, he was also aware of how poor his memory was most of the time. Usually he had Donald around to correct his mistakes, but this time he was on his own, meaning he didn't have any help remembering.

"Is this place really far away?" Goofy questioned while leaning towards Sora and the brown haired boy pointed towards a shining star.

"Not really, we would've gotten there by now if that weird purple Octopus hadn't stowed away and attacked us." Sora replied with some small annoyance as the said Octopus, who introduced himself as "Ultros" had been utterly and completely annoying, and had somehow managed to jump into space and save itself from him and Goofy.

"That fella' sure was a mighty long way from water, huh Sora." Goofy noted and Sora nodded his head in full agreement with Goofy, briefly wondering what kind of octopus Ultros had been, and why it could talk, not to mention had rows of razor sharp teeth to bite at them with! "Say, why did the king want us to check this Miragey place out anyway?" Goofy questioned while scratching his head and Sora frowned in thought, not really all that sure as Mickey had been very vague when he described the Mirage Arena.

"Don't know, but we'll find out when we get there." Sora offered before noticing some of Ultros' ink was still clinging to his clothes. _'Great, and I never learned a spell to clean and repair clothes either… I really need to talk to King Mickey and Kairi about that kind of thing.'_ Sora mused to himself as he figured their had to be a spell that could clean and repair clothes given how often he'd seen several of his allies wearing the same thing without ever changing it, even after a fierce battle. Shaking his head of that thought, Sora fiddled with the controls for a moment and they came out of Hyper-Drive before an amazingly advanced looking "world".

"Wow, that sure looks neat." Goofy noted while moving close to the glass and Sora silently nodded his head before setting the Gummi-Ship down on a platform that was extended from the Mirage Arena. Hitting a few buttons to lower the landing gears of the ship, the brown haired youth then unlocked his seat belt and got back up.

"C'mon Goofy, lets go check this place out." Sora stated before turning to walk out of the Gummi-Ship, soon followed by Goofy who tripped on his way out of the ship while giving his classic and trademarked scream. Shaking his head with amusement, Sora looked around the platform with a frown before walking over to a console and frowning.

"What now, Sora?" Goofy questioned and Sora scratched his head for a moment before pressing the only button on the consol, then looked around as both he and Goofy were instantaneously transported into a new area.

"Whoa… that was awesome!" Sora declared while looking around, Goofy looking a little queasy as he placed a hand to his stomach. Seeing the look on his good friends face, a concerned look crossed Sora's features before walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Something the matter Goofy?" The brown haired boy questioned and the dog-man groaned lightly before replying.

"I don't think I like being transported like that…" He replied as if he were deathly ill and Sora frowned to himself for a moment before shaking his head.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it, Goofy." The brown haired teen replied while turning around to look at the new area, only to stop when he saw the tip of a sword now pointing between his eyes. Goofy looked more than a little fearful while Sora raised his arms and looked to the owner of the sword. "Uh… hi?" He offered weakly with a nervous grin and the Swords owner took a few steps back, allowing Naruto a much better look at his "captor" of sorts.

The man is tall; his weapon is something like a lance combined with a sword with intricate purple and gold markings on it, and he wears a full-bodysuit of black armor that perfectly molded itself to every curve and line of his body with blue and gold accents across it, diamond shaped blue knee guards, a large dagger sheathed and hanging from two straps falling from his shoulder blades, spikes formed off of his calves, forearms, elbows, and shoulders, lastly he wears a black helmet with the blue accents forming into a face with white lenses over his eyes and several spike coming off near where his ears would be, with numerous small beads coming off of one of the spikes.

Slowly, the man in black armor backed way from Sora, keeping him in his sights while looking to Goofy as well. "Who are you? State your business here!" The man ordered in an authoritative voice while Sora looked over to Goofy for a second before raising his head as the man moved his blade towards him. "Do not even think to try anything…" The man warned before his wrist was grabbed by another man and his blade was pulled away from a relieved Sora's neck. Quickly breathing a sigh of relief, Sora watches on silently as the black armored man looks to another in question.

This new man is also clearly a warrior, he has short silver hair save for the single long tail of silver coming from the back of his neck, he has bright blue eyes, his skin looks deeply tanned, with a muscular build similar, yet slimmer, to that of the Warrior of Light. He wears a multicolored bandanna with numerous beads falling from it, the rest of his outfit is mostly made up from black / blue armor, a chest plate slash pauldrons, forearm bracers, and shin-guards, light blue / blue leg armor, a long pale blue cape flowing from around his neck, blue cloth tied around his shin armor, and white cloth coming from the sides of his armored belt. This warrior carries several weapons, a sword and shield, a bow, what looked like a land, an ax, two daggers, and a staff.

"Calm down Cecil, he doesn't look like an enemy." The man stated and the man in armored seemed to calm, lifting his weapon up and twirling it in hand where it vanished in a familiar flash of Darkness, setting off warning bells in the minds of both Sora and Goofy when it did.

"I suppose your right, Firion." The "Dark Knight" mused to himself before turning to Sora and Goofy and giving a curt bow from the waist. "Forgive my rashness good sirs, I fear our innumerous battles recently have frazzled my nerves and your sudden and most unexpected appearance didn't help the matter." The man offered before standing up straight, surprising Sora as he'd never met any user of Darkness who was so… polite? Maybe even "Knightly" if he could put a word to it.

"Oh… it's no problem. I guess we did kind of drop in unexpectedly." Sora admitted while rubbing the back of his neck, then looked to "Firion" as he looked to the spot where Sora and Goofy had come from.

"Yes, but tell us, how did you get here? We suddenly found ourselves here after we freed ourselves of the cycles of conflict." Firion questioned of the brown haired youth and Sora tilted his head to one side, wondering what the man meant by that.

"We came in a Gummi-Ship." Sora replied and both Firion and Cecil seemed to be confused, though it was easier to see in Firion than Cecil, thanks to his strange armor.

"I see, then perhaps you could help us, we wish to leave this place as soon as we possibly can." Cecil mused while Sora frowned slightly, still looking at the man warily considering the show of Darkness from before.

"Maybe… but that might have to wait. We were sent by the king to check around this place." Sora replied and both Cecil and Firion nodded their heads.

"King and Country must always come first." Cecil stated with a nod of his head before walking off to the side. "I'll check the perimeter for more of those White Angels Firion. Please show our young friend and his ally around as I do." Cecil offered while walking off, forming his weapon back into his hands as he went, Sora frowning for a moment as he did. _'White Angels? What does that mean?'_ The brown haired teen silently wondered to himself then looked over to Firion who reached up to rub his head before smiling to Sora kindly.

"Well, looks like I have the easy job, c'mon, there's not much around here but I'll show you what we've found." Firion offered before walking off, Sora looking to Donald for a moment before following behind the strange warrior…

(Destiny Islands…)

Naruto walked down the streets of Destiny Island beside of Kazehana, several grocery bags held in his arms. Beside of him, the said woman is also carrying several bags and had tried to convince Naruto that she didn't need any help carrying them, but the blond had insisted on helping her. _'It's the least I could do after all.'_ The blond inwardly decided while looking all around the tiny little "village" that rested on the mainland of Destiny Islands. Contrary to what he'd believed, it was tiny too, the homes were nice, the streets were mostly dirt roads, and only real store in town was a simple general store where local farmers brought their wares, the school being one of the biggest buildings in the entire town.

'_It's small, but it's peaceful… I don't think anyone could ever really want a world of war and death over something as tranquil as this…'_ Naruto thought to himself with a faint smile on his lips, inhaling a breath as a cool breeze washed over his skin. In fact, while he was aware this world existed in the "Realm of Light" and should as such be closed off to him, Naruto wouldn't mind living in such a peaceful place. He could even imagine lazy days of relaxing on the beach with friends, going to school, helping his par… that thought stopped the blond and he slowed slightly with a far off look working its way across his features.

'_Oh right, I'm an orphan.'_ He remembered and then scrunched his eyes closed with a slight scowl on his face. _'But… I have Ventus' memories and even half his heart and all of his soul, doesn't that mean I'm him in some way? So wouldn't his family also be mine?'_ Naruto wondered to himself, and then remembered the wayfinder he'd found back in the Teme-Ni-Gru. _'Someone gave that to Ven. I know that much… so, why can't I remember who it was? I know it was someone important, but…'_ Naruto thought to himself once more before blinking his eyes open when he felt someone looking at him, and found Kazehana fixing an odd look onto him.

"Uh… yes?" Naruto questioned with his head tilted slightly and Kazehana blinked and then smiled slightly to herself.

"Sometimes I swear you're like my Sora. But other times, you're just too different to be the same." The woman noted with a shake of her head and Naruto winced at the reminder that he was little more than Sora's negative, his doppelganger, his "Other"… "For instance, you think way too much and too often to ever be Sora." Kazehana said with a nod of her head and Naruto snorted before laughing slightly to himself and grinned towards the blond haired woman.

"Really? Is he that much of an airhead?" Naruto questioned and Kazehana rolled her eyes before playfully grinning towards the blond. At the moment, they were both speaking her native language and had been ever since arriving, it not only confused everyone else on the island to the point it amused the twin blonds, but raised questions on the origin of Naruto as he looked like he could be her long-lost brother, or son!

"My Sora has his head in the clouds more often than a bird! He's always day dreaming and losing himself in his imagination! I swear, if he'd just apply himself a little more he might make something of himself, but he just keeps drifting off…" Kazehana replied with a shake of her head and Naruto snickered to himself, though also remembered he was much the same back before he'd accepted the Darkness into his heart. _'I wonder if the Darkness has had an affect on my personality? Or… if it's just cause Vanitas' and Master Xehanort's hearts have woken up?'_ The blond haired teen wondered to himself thoughtfully then spotted a familiar red haired boy and a brown haired girl rushing towards the beach.

"Looks like they are in a hurry…" Naruto noted and Kazehana nodded her head before exhaling a breath into her bangs.

"Selphy and Waka both said that some freak in black and red armor burned down the Small Island not too long ago…" Kazehana started to explain, while instantly drawing Naruto's attention as he was interested in who had done such a thing. However, when he heard that he wore "Red and Black Armor" a frown crossed his features. _'Could it be, Vanitas? He's evil enough even without a heart… but what could he gain from burning down the Small Island?'_ Naruto wondered to himself with a frown while Kazehana sighed to herself for a moment.

"Yeah, and then they started saying that Tidus followed him through a dark portal or something… normally I'd think they were crazy, but given how things have been with Sora I'm inclined to believe them." Kazehana continued and Naruto silently nodded his head in agreement with the blond haired woman. _'So someone followed him, I don't think Vanitas is that sloppy… but then again, he is severely weakened, this Tidus kid could probably follow him after the trouncing I gave him.'_ Naruto thought to himself while keeping an eye on Kazehana as she turned to walk up a path that led outside of the main portion of Destiny-Islands village.

"You live outside of the village?" Naruto questioned with a raised brow and Kazehana nodded her head.

"My former husband liked his privacy." She offered in explanation and a frown crossed Naruto's lips at the "Former" and wondered what had happened. However, since he was beginning to grasp the concept of Tact and understood that some things were better left unasked and unsaid, he wisely chose not to dig up what she meant.

"So after I finish helping you with these, what should we do then?" Naruto asked while looking to the groceries he was carrying and Kazehana hummed in thought.

"Not sure… I really just wanted to talk to someone in Japanese again, and we've been doing that for a while." Kazehana mused mostly to herself and Naruto nodded his head in understanding, figuring he'd miss speaking Japanese after many years without finding anyone else who could speak it with. "Well, how about you tell me about yourself, I bet you have a fascinating life." Kazehana offered cheerfully and Naruto blinked for a moment before humming in thought. In truth, he'd never thought too much about his life, and while he supposed it was pretty exciting, he was starting to find that he actually preferred less excitement in exchange for peace.

"Well… I was born in a place called Hi-no-Kuni." Naruto started to say and Kazehana blinked for a moment.

"The Land of Fire?" She asked and Naruto nodded his head, Kazehana humming before nodding her head for him to continue.

"Anyways, I lived in Konohagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the tree leaves for the longest of times. I was somewhat trained in the arts of the Shinobi, and recently I've sort of become a wanderer y'know… going wherever the wind will take me next. Especially since things always seem to get complicated whenever I stay somewhere for too long." Naruto explained with a weak smile and Kazehana looked at him with no small amount of surprise on her face.

"Wow, so you're a real Shinobi? As in a Ninja, meaning you can do all kinds of Black Magic and that kind of stuff?" Kazehana questioned with clear interest and Naruto nodded his head with a slightly amused look on his face. "That is so cool! Back when I was little I always wanted to learn Ninjutsu, but my parents didn't think it was a good idea…" Kazehana said with a pout and Naruto shrugged his shoulders, and then blinked when the woman grinned towards him. "Hey, could you show me something you can do?" She asked with a little too much enthusiasm and Naruto raised a brow.

"Like what?" He enquired with his head tilted to one side and Kazehana bit her lip in thought before grinning.

"Oh! I know! I heard that most Ninja can use the fire-spell! Could you show me something like that?" She questioned of him excitedly and Naruto rolled his eyes before closing his eyes and feeling for The Neo-Shade.

"I'll do that… and one better." Naruto allowed while opening his eyes bright yellow gold eyes. "Come out!" Naruto ordered and the Neo-Shade formed from behind him, Kazehana yelping as she nearly jumped to the side with wide eyes as the shadowy wraith gripped the grocery bags in Naruto's arms, leaving his hands free. "Dark-Firaga!" The blond then declared while swinging his arm forward, sending a bolt of purple-blue flames flying from his hand and into the distance. Grinning to himself, Naruto then took the bags from The Neo-Shade while the creature seemed to glare at Kazehana for some reason before vanishing into Naruto's shadow.

Turning to the still shell-shocked Kazehana, the blond haired youth smirked and she blinked. "So how was that?" Naruto queried with a raised brow and the woman shook her head to clear the awe and then grinned widely.

"That was awesome! Was it hard?" She asked excitedly and Naruto blinked before considering it for a moment.

"Not really… but Summoning The Shade can be somewhat of a pain at times…" Naruto admitted and could almost swear that The Neo-Shade had just bopped him on the head for some reason. At that tiny tidbit Kazehana seemed to, if possible, become more interested while they continued their trek to her home.

"So you can summon as well? And that was Dark Fire you used! I thought that was strictly a Dark-Knight thing?" Kazehana questioned quickly and Naruto blinked for a moment before humming lightly to himself.

"Yeah I can Summon, and no, Dark-Knights aren't the only ones who can channel Dark Fire." Naruto replied and the woman continued to grin excitedly, the blond haired teen smiling and shaking his head. _'She's a bit strange, but I like her.'_ Naruto decided to himself mentally, as he watched the blond woman.

"That's amazing! It must've taken you years to get so powerful, I mean I knew some Ninja back home and it took them forever to learn all the skills it pertains to, from Water-Walking to a bunch of others like wall-walking and that one teleportation ability!" Kazehana gushed and Naruto blinked before wondering just how similar the 'Shinobi' of his world were to the 'Ninja' of the Realm of Light. However before he could ponder that further, he and Kazehana finally reached her home and she turned and pulled out a key while balancing one of her bags on one leg. Using her now free hand to unlock the door to her home, Kazehana then put her key back into her pocket and grabbed her bag.

"C'mon, Rika is probably at a friends house so we have the place all to ourselves!" Kazehana stated while walking inside of her home and Naruto frowned for a moment before following her.

"Do you always invite strangers into your home, Kazehana Oneechan?" The blond haired teen questioned with an amused look directed at the woman. Blinking the older blond scoffed while walking into the kitchen of her home and placing her bags on the spacious table within.

"Of course not! I just feel comfortable around you, it's like you're my Sora or something." Kazehana replied and Naruto winced once more, and then frowned at the growl that The Neo-Shade suddenly let out in the back of his mind. _'Is it just me, or does The Shade hate this woman?'_ Naruto wondered to himself before shaking his head and placing his own bags down on the table as well.

"Well, seeing as I've entertained you, I think it's time for this wanderer to move out with the wind." Naruto stated while rubbing the back of his head and Kazehana frowned while looking out a window, noticing that the sun looked to be setting in the distant horizon.

"It's getting pretty late, are you sure you don't want to spend the night? You could even use Sora's room since he hasn't been around in a while." Kazehana offered the blond haired teen and Naruto smiled faintly in response.

"Sorry, but that's not my style, it's like I said, when I stay somewhere too long, things tend to get complicated." Naruto offered in explanation, Kazehana smiling as she could understand what he meant. Turning on his heel, Naruto stopped for a moment and turned his head to give the kind woman one last smile. "Take care of yourself, Kazehana Oneechan." Naruto stated before walking away silently, quickly slipping out of her door and wandering down the street from her home. Hearing her run out to her porch, the blond stopped and turned to see her one last time.

"You do the same! And if you ever need a place to stay, my doors always open!" She offered with a smile and Naruto nodded his head only once before turning on his heel and walking down the path back towards town. Slipping his hands into his pockets, the blond haired teen then looked to the sky for a moment, stopping only for a second as he saw a raven fly overhead.

"These worlds… there people truly don't appreciate the serenity they have…" The blond haired teen decided with a shake of his head as he then continued on his trek back into town. Idly taking a sniff of the air, hoping to find the scent of Xion's Darkness, the blond then frowned when he couldn't pick up _**any**_ Darkness but his own. "Looks like I'll have to head off world to find her…" He noted mostly to himself, then reached up and rubbed his chin for a moment. "But I'll need some kind of disguise if I'm going to be wandering around the Realm of Light… I really don't need or want people confusing me with Sora or Roxas." The blond haired youth decided to himself before he then continued walking towards the town of Destiny-Islands.

Luckily, his trip was short and he soon found himself looking for the general store he'd visited with Kazehana. Finally spotting it, the blond walked over to it and slipped inside, looking around for something to disguise himself. Walking over to a wall that had clothes, Naruto soon came to the end and spotted an item that resembled a gold Hittai-ate on a long black bandanna like cloth as well as black facemask with a red lining clipped onto it… "A "Ninja Mask"?" Naruto whispered while looking at the name on the tag that was sewn to the object. "A Ninja in a black Mask, that is such an over used stereotype…" Naruto muttered to himself with a slight frown before clicking his tongue and smirking.

"But that makes it the perfect disguise. If the Ninja of the Realm of Light are really similar to the Shinobi back home, I should be able to easily pass off as one…" Naruto decided while taking the mask, briefly stopping as he felt a flash of recognition, and then shrugged it off while continuing to look around. Knowing that Sora's friends had seen a version of Xehanort, his Heartless at least, which was dressed in a similar fashion to his current attire, Naruto decided he'd need to cover more than just his face. Looking around, Naruto grabbed some leather chest armor, a yellow sash, a few lengths of rope, a strange belt of waist-synching armor, and some long strips of purple cloth.

"This should do." Naruto decided while walking over to the counter and handed the items over to the salesclerk. Quickly paying for the items, and thanking Kami for most of the creatures he killed dropping "Munnies", the blond then exited the establishment and walked around before slipping into the shadows behind the store. Looking around for a moment, the blond then slipped off the forearm protectors he was wearing and placed them into a Dark-Hole for storage. Looking over his disguise the blond then sat down and started it off by wrapping the purple cloth around his boots, then tying some of the yellow rope around his calves to hold them on.

Moving on, Naruto slipped the armored waist-synching belt on around his waist, idly noting the strange design on the front of it that looked like a blue orb with gold lines, then tied the yellow sash around his waist with two ends hanging in front, the rest hanging over his larger belts and pouches, then tied another rope over that. Picking up the leather armor he'd purchased, Naruto slipped it on over his torso while pulling his waistcoat closed, leaving his white shirt only partially visible under them. Naruto idly noted the armor was a large plate at his chest with leather straps under his arms around his back, a single strap and pauldron covering his left shoulder. Nodding his head, the blond then picked up the cloth that was for a mask and slipped it on over his lower-face like what Kakashi wore.

Tying it at the base of his head, Naruto then pulled on the Hittai-ate portion of his new disguise and stopped to look at the depiction on it. It was blue with intricate gold lining and a bit of barely visible red to it, vaguely reminding him of flames. Shaking his head of such thoughts, Naruto then slipped the metal plate over his forehead while keeping the metal down over his eyebrows to shadow his azure blue eyes, making them appear darker. He then tired the long black ties at the back of his head, making sure the material completely covered his hair, where the ends hung to his shoulders.

"There… this should be good enough to where Sora and his friends won't recognize me." Naruto decided while flexing his hands for a moment and reached to his right thigh pouch and removed Gloria and held it in hand. "For the moment, you should do as a weapon, or I could even pull out my short-sword and use it." Naruto decided while twirling the blade and slipping it back into his pouch before snapping his fingers, a Dark-Corridor suddenly opening before him. "Lets see what world I'll end up in next." Naruto decided as he walked forward, not noticing the shadowed figure standing on the store behind him as he walked into the corridor.

Tilting his head to one side, the dark haired man noted the ability to himself before mentally frowning as he realized it wasn't something normal. _'So you've gained new powers, Naruto-kun. Impressive…'_ Uchiha Itachi thought to himself while looking down at the corridor for a moment and then leapt off of the store and landed in a low crouch. "But we will just have to see how strong you've become." The dark haired man decided while walking into the corridor behind Naruto, which then closed behind him, leaving none privy to the two men who had just left…

(Olympus Coliseum…)

Liximawl stands before the three kidnapped girls, bowing repeatedly with a young boy at his side. The boy wears a blue hoody with orange pull strings, a pair of brown shorts, blue / orange sneakers, and a strange hat, his dark hair looking somewhat untamed, while his dark eyes look out with a bored look. "I am so so soooo sorry about this…" Liximawl said while bowing towards the three tied up girls that DP and LDP had kidnapped earlier. "I honestly didn't want them to kidnap you but… well… they're both completely insane." The brown haired man said with a sigh while the girls merely gave him flat looks before glaring over towards the said two Deadpools who had, along with their counterparts, decided to dismantle and even rearrange the vestibule.

"You know, Haruko does this kind of stuff all the time…" The boy suddenly noted and Liximawl sighed before looking over to the youth with a slight smile.

"I know, that's one of the reasons I brought you here, you can help me deal with these psychos Naota." The Man replied and the now named Naota rolled his eyes before looking over to the side where a man with no mouth, dressed in red pants and black boots, with deep scarring over his eyes, and strange tattoos was being used as little more than a golf ball by not only the Deadpools, but also a familiar pink haired woman who had one hand up and was looking into the distance.

"FOUR!" She then declared while swinging a Guitar into the air and then slammed the object into the man's head, sending him flying into the air, only to fall back down inside of the coliseum…

"**Nice one!"** Deadpool declared and Kidpool, Lady-Deadpool, and the Ultimate Deadpool Wadey Wilson all held up numbers. A 10 from LDP, a 9.5 from UDP, and a 5 from KDP.

"What the! Why only a five?" The woman demanded and KDP crossed his arms and gave her a flat look.

"**Cause he didn't spontaneously combust…"** The masked kid replied and the woman pouted while Naota and Liximawl let out a pair of sighs. The woman in question looks to be in her late teens to early twenties, with lime green eyes, a head of short hot-pink hair, and pale skin with a noticeable manic quality about her. She is currently wearing a pair of black leather pants, knee high white boots, a cream colored long sleeved turtleneck shirt, long red vest with two black bars on it, and finally is a pair of brown gloves with a metal bracelet on her left wrist.

"Well I'm sooooo sorry, mister perfecto!" The woman grumbled out while leaning her customized blue rickenbacker bass guitar along her shoulders with a frown, a hand on her hip while DP shook his head.

"**Aww, don't let it get to ya Haruko, Kid-Pool is just an ass like that!"** DP offered and Haruko smirked down at KDP as he grumbled to himself, LDP nodding her head in agreement with her male counterpart.

"Besides!" Duela suddenly chimed in while jumping onto Haruko's back and grinning wider than should be humanly possible. "I finally get to meet my hero the Great and terrible Haruhara Haruko!" Duela declared happily and the pink haired woman smirked to herself before stretching out her arms.

"Yeah yeah, but where's the spicy curry, I'm getting hungry." Haruko noted while looking to her hosts and Duela produced a pack from her backpack, the DP's, Haruko, and even Gilgamesh ignoring the fact she had been carrying the pack of curry around with her for some reason. "Nice, c'mon Ta-kun! Time for some lunch!" Haruko declared and Naota felt his eye twitch as he took a step back, Liximawl taking a step away from the youth, not keen on being pummeled by Haruko to get the youth. However it seemed he'd somehow drawn the woman's ire, or amusement, as she slammed her guitar into his head anyways, the three bound and gagged girls looking at her in shock.

"Why'd you do that? He moved out of the way if you wanted to grab me or something…" Naota questioned with a raised brow while Haruko grinned, and grabbed the man by his black-coat, the man's head leaning back with stars in his eyes.

"Cause I'm curious to see what'll come outta his head! Besides, as far as authors go he's no where near as creative as our usual guys." The pinkette responded while Noata groaned to himself while Liximawl lifted his head and giggled stupidly.

"Look at all the stars!" He said randomly before passing out, even Duela looking a little weirded out when he did, only to fall back laughing a mere second later.

"_**DEADPOOL!**_!" Someone suddenly roared furiously and all the DP's turned, only to snicker seeing a man in a _**pink**_ version of the typical Black-Cloak. "What the hell did you do to my coat!" The man demanded and DP whistled innocently while idly messing with one of his many handguns.

"**Nothing…"** Dead-Pool lied cooly while idly checking the sight of his gun while the man stomped over towards him, Liximawl still looking more than a little dizzy as Haruko held him up. Idly she wondered who this new guy was, before snickering at the fact he was actually wearing pink.

"Nothing my ass! You bleached then dyed it pink again! Admit it!" The man demanded and Dead-Pool snickered slightly to himself as he looked to the man in the pink Black Coat. Honestly, he did do it, but every time he admitted to doing something like that he ended up being attacked.

"**So what if I did, Xardric? What are ya' gonna do 'bout it?"** Dead-Pool questioned while looking to the man with his arms crossed behind his back. Growling low in his throat, Xardric snapped his fingers, creating a small Dark-Corridor at his side before reaching in… and pulling out a large butterfly-net of all things… **"Aww shit, not again!"** Dead-Pool exclaimed while turning and running as Xardric gave a war cry and chased after the psycho in red. Watching on, the other DP's silently wondered where this "Xardric" guy had come from before staring at Kid-Pool as he ate some popcorn. Feeling their gazes, the foul-mouthed runt of the litter turned a glare on his counterparts.

"What?" He demanded of them and Lady-Dead-Pool placed her hands on her hips while glaring at her smaller counterpart.

"Are you gonna share those?" She questioned and Kid-Pool quickly pulled his Box of Popcorn away and started to walk away while glaring at them. As he did, Duela grinned towards the audience with clear amusement twinkling in her bright violet eyes.

"Oh well, if you're wondering who the guy in pink is, he's Mister-Author-Dude's assistant. But anyways, that's all for this update folks! See ya next time!" Duela declared with a wave before Dead-Pool and Xardric ran passed her, causing her to laugh as Xardric somehow caught Liximawl in his next instead of Deadpool…

TBC…

AN: Blame me playing FF6 for some of this chapter, and me trying to update Null Fox and restarting Dark-Lord for not updating this one in a while. Anyways, I have a bit of a surprise for this chapter; I've actually drawn a scene from this chapter and put it onto my DeviantArt account. Go to: 26lordpain .deviantart .com /#/d39ez8d, in order to see it, remove the spaces when you type it out. It has Naruto's "New" outfit before wearing his disguise, the Disguise is based off of Amano's design for Shadow… and anyone who realizes why that is significant, is truly a FF6 fan.

Naruto's Keyblade's…

Dark-Heart…

Soul-Blade…

Void-Gear…

Vorpal-Key…

One-Winged-Angel…

No-Heart…

Lost-Memory…


	39. Shadow Pt 1

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 38**_: _**Shadow Pt. 1**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(Radiant Garden…)

A Dark-Corridor opens in a secluded ally upon the world host to the place that is known to many as The City of Light. From the corridor a familiar masked man walks out, dressed primarily in black as he makes his way out of the alley silently. Looking around for a moment, he then notices a shop to the side and walks over to it, silently gazing at several weapons hanging on the wall. "Need any help sir?" A young man with a red bandanna with slicked back brown hair questions, only for Naruto to shake his head to the negative and walk away silently. "Weird guy…" The man noted to himself while watching the obvious, in his opinion, "Ninja" walk away from his shop silently.

Meanwhile Naruto looked around and frowned to himself as he did, noticing that this world seemed a little more advanced than the world of Destiny Islands had been. He could also almost swear that he heard a strange tune playing in his ears, as if the world had a soundtrack or something. _'But that's just silly.'_ Naruto thought to himself before slowing as he noticed someone was following behind him. Turning down a corner, the blond narrowed his eyes when the person continued to follow behind him. Turning down another corner, he scowled when he confirmed that the person was indeed following him for some reason, thus narrowed his eyes.

'_Not even five-minutes and someone is already following me, that has got to be a record I swear.'_ The blond haired teen thought to himself while turning down another corner before placing his back to the wall and waiting for his pursuer. Narrowing his eyes he then reached out and grabbed them when they turned the corner, his hand over their mouth and his other arm holding, what he quickly realized was a girl's arms, down to the rest of her body. _'Okay, better not go with my usual interrogation method, time to be more stealthy and aggressive.'_ Naruto thought to himself, more because he knew he wasn't threatening personally, thus would have to act differently than normal.

"Scream and I can guarantee that you won't like the consequences…" Naruto warned darkly and the black haired girl silently nodded her head with a strangely excited expression on her face. "Now then, who are you?" Naruto then questioned while removing his hand from her mouth and the girl grinned brightly. Removing his other arm and allowing the girl to move forward the blond raised a brow at her attire, then lingered on her blank Hittai-ate. Grinning widely, the dark haired girl then pointed a thumb at her chest while looking to the disguised blond.

"I'm the great Ninja of Radiant Garden, Kisaragi Yuffie!" The girl declared with a grin and a wink of one eye, Naruto rolling his own eyes while giving her a flat look, arms crossed over his chest.

"So what, do you want an award?" Naruto quipped dryly and the girl slumped while giving him an annoyed look.

"Aren't you even a little impressed? Maybe a little awed? I did help defeat Sephiroth once…" Yuffie noted and the disguised blond yet again rolled his eyes while leaning back into the wall.

"Yet you had help… that means you didn't take him out on your own." Naruto stated and Yuffie pouted while crossing her own arms over her chest and glaring at the disguised blond angrily.

"You don't have to be so mean about it!" Yuffie declared and Naruto gave her a silent look before grunting.

"Whatever, what do you want?" Naruto questioned bluntly and Yuffie actually grinned while looking at him.

"Well, it's just nice to know that another Ninja is around again! I was beginning to think I was the last one besides those "Konoha Shinobi" that showed up a while back." The black haired girl replied, drawing Naruto immediate attention, as it seemed that something of the Elemental Nations had survived.

"Leaf Ninja, eh…" Naruto noted while rubbing his chin and the dark haired girl nodded her head with an annoyed look.

"Yeah, but from what I've been hearing these people focus on big explosions with their techniques. Ha! I may know some Fire Spells, but those are for arson! Meanwhile these guys use them in the middle of combat rather than trying to use stealth and evasion or even a few simple long-range weapons!" The dark haired girl stated in annoyance while leaning back into the wall and Naruto mentally snickered to himself.

"Amen sister." Naruto whispered while Yuffie then grinned brightly and slipped in front of the disguised blond.

"Say, why don't you come with me! I'm sure that Ansem The Wise could use another real Ninja to help around here, the Heartless and Unversed are really starting to get annoying." Yuffie mused and Naruto reached a hand up and rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. He then mentally snickered while silently holding out a hand to the now confused dark haired girl…

"Pay me." He stated with a serious tone and Yuffie face-faulted while gaping at the disguised, and now very amused, blond.

"W-What! You've got to be kidding me!" She exclaimed and then glared at the blond haired teen defiantly. "Well… you owe me! You grabbed me when I wasn't doing nothin'!" She declared while pointing at him accusingly and Naruto gave her a flat look.

"You were following me…" He replied and Yuffie twitched before growling.

"Well, how would you know! I could've been some random person!" She exclaimed and Naruto rolled his eyes before crossing his arms.

"What random person follows another down three different turns that end up back where they started?" Naruto questioned and she flinched while reaching up to rub her head for a moment.

"Umm… well… you threatened me!" She shouted loudly and Naruto rolled his eyes once more.

"We're Ninja, we kill people in their sleep and yet now your complaining about me threatening you?" Naruto questioned flatly and Yuffie mentally flinched while rubbing her head and looking at her wallet.

"Aww… but it took me forever to get all this…" She noted more to herself than anyone else and Naruto smirked to himself. Looking thoughtful, Yuffie considered her options before mentally groaning. _'Looks like I'll have to take a play out of Aerith's playbook…'_ The girl thought to herself before turning to Naruto and attempting to look cute with one finger to her cheek. "How about I go on one date with you?" Yuffie offered instead and Naruto narrowed his eyes onto her dangerously.

"No." He stated flatly, causing Yuffie to gape towards him.

"W-w-w-what! What's wrong with me?" The dark haired girl demanded and Naruto shook his head with clear amusement.

"You're not my type." Naruto replied with a shrug of his shoulders and then had a sudden thought. "Oh, and my fee is Three Thousand Munnie. Take it or leave it." He stated and she gaped at the disguised blond incredulously.

"That's extortion!" She declared and Naruto rolled his eyes once more.

"And I'm a Ninja." He stated simply and she huffed while looking from her wallet to the disguised blond several times. "Fine if you don't want my services, then I'll be on my way…" Naruto stated while walking off from a gaping Yuffie, the girl groaning loudly as she ran up and held out three-thousand munnie.

"Fine then… take your stupid munnie." She grumbled out with a pout and Naruto took the offered wad and counted it out for a moment before slipping it all into the hidden pouch at the back of his waist.

"Very well, but just know that I might take off at anytime, if I feel like it." The blond haired teen then stated and Yuffie gaped as he walked off yet again. "The Reaper is always just one step behind me." Naruto added more as an afterthought than anything else, though frowned when he noticed just how… right… saying it had felt.

"Then why did I have to pay your ass!" Yuffie demanded uncaringly as she ran after Naruto before grabbing him by the arm and pulling him towards the castle of Radiant Garden. "Stupid over priced assholes!" She grumbled under her breath before going into a semi-long rant over how annoying it was to deal with. Rolling his eyes, Naruto thought over when he'd ditch Yuffie, then extort her for an exuberant amount of Munnie again, then grinned widely and wondered why doing so to the girl just seemed to amuse the hell out of him. Shaking that thought from his head, Naruto raised a brow as they approached the castle of Radiant Garden, Yuffie pulling him by the arm before stopping at the gates and releasing him.

"There! Finally…" She panted out and Naruto rolled his eyes while crossing his arms over his chest and looked around silently.

"Seems like it still needs a little work." Naruto noted to himself and Yuffie huffed while glaring at him even as he walked passed her and into the castle. Muttering under her breath about extortionist assholes this time, the girl followed behind Naruto silently. Looking around, the blond haired teen then slowed when he saw a familiar mouse up ahead, beside of an equally familiar blue haired girl. _'It's that girl… but… why do I still feel like I know her from somewhere before that dream?'_ Naruto wondered to himself while placing a hand to the side of his head as he approached Mickey and Aqua.

As he did numerous flashes of memory formed before his eyes, confusing and annoying the blond haired teen greatly. _'This isn't like with Ventus' memories… they are more disorganized… what is this?'_ The blond haired teen thought while gritting his teeth in pain as the flashes showed Ventus, the girl, and a brown haired teen together and clearly friends. _'Ventus… Aqua… and… Terra.'_ He thought to himself while feeling his eye twitch, as several memories seemed to have him fighting the three. _'Then these are… Vanitas' memories?'_ Naruto wondered to himself before taking several calming breaths and pushing the flashes of memory to the back of his mind. Nearby Leon and Ansem the wise stood with the two Keybearers.

"So you say your armor came to life and attacked you?" Ansem questioned while rubbing his chin and the blue haired girl nodded her head. Frowning the bearded man reached up to cup his chin while closing his eyes. "Most distressing… alchemical armor manifesting a personality of its own has been known to happen because of the nature of the armor. However the truest name for that type of a creature is what is known as a Sentiment, a being created from a powerful emotion strong enough to give it the power to move on its own. They are often seen as more powerful than the original because of the fact they fight with their entire being, and are unable to do otherwise." Ansem explained with a thoughtful look and Aqua looked over to Mickey who frowned to himself.

"So since Vanitas was a Sentiment as well… then what happened to him when started to disappear?" Mickey questioned of Ansem, Naruto silently listening as he came to a stop across from them, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Vanitas exhausted his powers to such an extent that it put a strain on his body, causing it to collapse on itself. His timely retreat must've been in order for him to regain hold of his body so he wouldn't vanish completely." Ansem explained to the two and Mickey grimaced at that before Leon frowned while looking to the side.

"Yeah that's great an' all, but who's your new friend Yuffie?" The brown haired man questioned while looking over to Naruto, Yuffie letting out a few breaths before stopping at the disguised blond's side. Thinking for a moment, the dark haired girl then grinned nervously when she realized something.

"Actually… I didn't think to ask for his name…" Yuffie then admitted with a blush and Leon groaned while reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. However as he did, the mouse gasped while looking at him with wide eyes, Aqua looking down to her much smaller friend.

"Is something the matter Mickey?" She questioned and the mouse pointed to Naruto, Yuffie still pouting behind him as he approached them.

"That's Shadow!" The mouse declared and both Aqua and Yuffie looked confused, Ansem and Leon looked interested, while Naruto grit his teeth as he felt a pulse of familiarity upon hearing the name. "He's a ruthless mercenary! He'd kill his best friend for the right price!" Mickey replied and Yuffie took a step away from Naruto with wide eyes, the blond frowning to himself while Aqua gazed at him silently.

"Are… are you sure that's him then, Mickey?" Aqua questioned while noticing a strangely calming feeling came from the "Ruthless Mercenary" rather than an aura of fear like she had expected.

"Of course it is! I heard all about him back on Twilight Town!" Mickey replied with a frown while Leon narrowed his eyes onto the disguised blond. "He comes and goes like the wind, swearing allegiance to no one. Hidden behind his wintry gaze lies a face known to none who live." Mickey explained and Ansem raised a brow while reaching up to stroke his beard for a moment. Leon however scowled and glared over at the Ruthless Mercenary with a deep frown across his face.

"Okay, then what did you bring him here for Yuffie?" Leon asked his friend and she chuckled nervously while looking to the disguised blond warily for a moment.

"Well, I kind of thought we could maybe use some help with all the Heartless and Unversed running around recently, and he looks pretty strong." Yuffie replied before hanging her head as she remembered the amount he'd extorted out of her just to come with her. _'How can one man charge a cute girl like me so much?'_ She wondered to herself pitifully before blinking when she saw Ansem the Wise walking over to the disguised Naruto with a curious look across his face.

"Young Man." Ansem stated in order to get Naruto's attention and the blue-eyed youth looked at him with a raised brow. "Why exactly are you here?" He then questioned of him and Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

"She paid me…" He replied while nudging to Yuffie, said girl growling low in her throat while glaring at the black-clad nin.

"Yeah! Three Thousand Munnie just to get his ass here!" She exclaimed and Leon winced while hiding an amused looking smirk. _'So Yuffie the extortionist finally gets a taste of her own medicine, it's about time.'_ The brown haired man thought to himself while Ansem let out a hearty laugh and clasped a hand to the black-clad Nin's shoulder.

"I see, then I thank you for coming to help us, even if it was for such a steep sum." Ansem offered and Naruto merely shrugged while glancing to the side with a frown, his eyes widening as he saw a shadowy figure of a man in black that quickly vanished. Turning back to Ansem the wise after he was sure it was gone, Naruto gave him a flat look while tilting his head to one side.

"Whatever, what do you need me to do?" Naruto questioned and Ansem reached up to stroke his chin for a moment before turning when he heard voices. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto frowned as he realized that the voices sounded _**very**_ familiar to him.

"Honestly Sensei, why aren't we being given any missions? We're Shinobi for Kami's sake and they have us sitting around twiddling our thumbs!" The voice of one Haruno Sakura complained loudly and Naruto felt the shadows around the room start to pulse wildly to another's presence besides his own.

"Calm down Sakura, I'm sure they are just waiting to find a proper mission for people with our talents." One Hatake Kakashi assured placatingly as he and his small group walked from a hall into the room, the man's nose deep in his little orange book. However as they did Naruto widened his eyes upon seeing a Heartless behind them, and sniffed lightly before smirking to himself. _'So you're alive as well Sasuke, can't say I'm surprised… doesn't mean I have to like it though…'_ The blond haired youth thought to himself with a mental frown while Spawn suddenly stiffened and suddenly looked towards him. "Something wrong Sasuke?" Kakashi questioned before then following the Heartless' gaze finally landing on the disguised Naruto.

"Whoa, who's that Sensei?" Sakura questioned as she stared at the stereotypical ninja in all black that made her inwardly groan. _'Is it any wonder why that is such a stereo-type with all the morons dressed like that?'_ She wondered to herself before blinking as Spawn walked passed her and Kakashi and stood directly across from the disguised blond haired seeker.

"_**So just who are you then?"**_ Spawn questioned in his typical pain filled voice and Naruto closed his eyes before mentally smirking.

"I believe it is customary to present one's own name first." Naruto replied while using the voice of a young Master-Xehanort to speak to them, rather than using his own. Sakura then walked forward and smiled warily towards the black-clad nin.

"I'm Sakura, that's my sensei Kakashi, and this Heartless is Spawn." She offered instead and Spawn let out something similar to a grunt while wondering why it kind of annoyed him that she treated him like a monster. "Anyways, you are?" The pinkette then questioned of the disguised blond and Naruto mentally smirked while thanking Mickey for giving him access to a suitable name…

"Call me, Shadow." The disguised blond replied before looking back to Ansem the wise with a bored tone, ignoring the other two nin and one Heartless. "Now then, what do you have for me to do? I'd like to at least be worth my extremely high price-tag." Naruto questioned of the blond haired man and he lightly reached up and rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. Meanwhile however Spawn narrowed his eyes onto the disguised blond before looking all around, sensing two familiar presences… and in the shadows up above, a familiar man in a cloak with red clouds watched on silently…

(Elsewhere…)

The sun was setting in the distant horizon, while an angry Tidus ran through the many streets of Radiant Garden with a deep scowl on his face while looking to and fro for the Kyuubi. Growling when he couldn't see any sign of him, Tidus quickly turned down into and then ran the length of an alley with a frown. _'There's no way I'll let that freak get away.'_ Tidus thought to himself as he kept looking for the red / black armored beast that had burned down the small island of Destiny Islands. Meanwhile behind the blond haired youth three familiar fairies are flying as fast as they can in an attempt to keep up with the boy.

"Why is he in such a hurry? And for that matter, why the hell are we following him like this?" Rikku suddenly demanded of her two friends only for Yuna to shoot ahead of them as she continued following the blond. Sighing for a moment, Paine floated to Rikku's side and shook her head.

"Because of Yuna." She finally answered and Rikky made an Oh with her mouth before both shot after Yuna once more. As they do they see someone walking out of an alley up ahead and Tidus tries to slow down, only to end up bumping into the person and falling back onto his ass. Grunting lightly, Tidus shook his head and palmed his face lightly, Yuna finally managing to catch up to them.

"Watch where you're going runt!" The man growled out before stopping and narrowing his eyes onto the blond that bumped into him. _'He looks familiar… hey… wait a minute now, I know that symbol.'_ The man thought to himself while spotting the necklace that Tidus wore around his neck. His eyes then widened when he realized just who the teen was and a frown marred his features. "You… what are you doing in a place like this?" He questioned of the blond haired teen while Yuna flew to hover directly in front of him, causing him to grunt and grip the side of his head in pain. _'This seems… familiar.'_ He noted mostly to himself while glaring passed Yuna to Tidus.

"Sir-Jecht!" Yuna declared while flying over to him, Tidus stiffening and then looking up towards the man. "We're so sorry, our new friend was looking for someone and didn't see you in time to stop." Yuna offered with a bow and Jecht ignored her while a tension seemed to form in the air as Tidus twisted into a flip and lunged back, landing in a low crouch across from the man.

"So, this is where you've been hiding all this time, huh Old-Man?" Tidus growled out while forming a blue sword with a blade that appeared to be made of water, Yuna Rikku and Paine looking very confused. In response to the accusation, the man dug the end of his own sword into the ground and leaned on it with a grin.

"Well, well, well, so you really are that skinny little cry-baby from back home after all." Jecht noted with amusement and Tidus scowled deeply while glaring at the man. "Come to take on you're old man have ya?" Jecht guessed with a grin and Tidus narrowed his eyes onto his father dangerously.

Jecht is a tall tan skinned man with numerous scars littering his body a familiar symbol tattooed to his chest and bright red eyes, his black hair is shoulder-blade length and spiky, with a beard of stubble along his jaw line, with a red headband partially obscuring his right eye with the tie hanging down from his left temple, he wears chain-mail and plated armor along his left arm with a blue strap over his torso, bandages on his right wrist, a pair of suspender shorts with the suspenders hanging around his waist, and a long orange cloth with several sharp black designs at the edge hanging from his right hip. His sword is large with a three-pointed design at the end of the blade, red designs along its length, bandages around the handle, and a length of chain hanging from one side of the guard.

"So what if I did?" Tidus demanded and Jecht scoffed with a sneer directed at the blond haired teen.

"And you honestly think you can beat me? Did you take a few too many knocks to the head or what?" Jecht questioned incredulously and Tidus growled low in his throat while glaring at the man.

"Look who's talking?" Tidus growled out and then lunged forward and swung his sword at the dark haired man. However Ject merely stepped to the side, Yuna looking on worriedly, as Tidus then kicked off of a wall in an attempt to stab Ject with his blade and the man stepped down on it to hold it down. "Do you have any idea how many times I had to watch mom cry because she thought you were dead? Yet here you are alive and well and probably living like a superstar as always!" Tidus growled and the man scoffed before he then lifted his foot and kicked Tidus in the face, sending the blond haired boy rolling back before colliding with a building. Reaching up to rub at his shoulder with a scowl, Jecht then marched forward to where Tidus was already getting back up.

"Tch, I wouldn't expect a kid like you to understand actual responsibility. I had more important things to deal with than you and your mother." The man declared flippantly and Tidus clenched his fists at his sides tightly. "Besides, I was sure you'd be fine what with your mother always babying you all the time." Jecht added with a slight thoughtful tone, Yuna and her friends gaping at the man incredulously while Tidus' eyes blazed with hatred while glaring at his father.

"Would you shut the hell up you no-good self-centered old bastard!" Tidus demanded while lunging at Jecht, only for him to literally reach out with one hand and grab Tidus' sword with a smirk.

"Tch, the skinny little kid trying to talk tough…" Jecht noted mostly to himself and then pushed Tidus back with his arm and the blond haired teen landed and slid back a ways while Yuna, Rikku, and Paine watched on. "Hey you three, get out of the way, this is a family matter. It doesn't involve any of you so beat it." Jecht stated while glaring at the three fairies, Rikku and Paine quickly grabbing Yuna and pulling her away while Jecht rolled his arm in its socket and smirked towards Tidus who crouched down slightly. "Alright, let's do this! But you better not regret it!" Jecht declared and Tidus scowled before flipping forward.

"I'll regret it, if I don't fight you!" The blond haired boy declared angrily while jumping up and swinging his blade down at Ject, the man blocking with the armor on his left arm. Looking at the man in surprise, Tidus watched him swing his arm at him, and quickly flipped back as a the sheer force of Jecht's punch sent a burst of wend out that shattered the glass of nearby buildings. Whistling lowly, Jecht watched as his son landed on the ground and then grinned at him. "I'm only just beginning!" Tidus declared with a smirk and Jecht rolled his eyes before crouching down.

"Then how's this?" The man questioned before kicking off the ground and lunging forward, and stomped down hard on the ground to stop. The sheer force of this cracked and cratered the ground under him, before the man lashed out with a punch to Tidus' gut, and sent him flying back into and threw the building behind him. Smirking to himself, Jecht jumped up and casually followed the line of destruction before spotting Tidus falling down the length of a large wall. Grunting in pain, Tidus rolled forward and then turned and got on all fours before standing on his feet. "Heads up runt!" Jecht declared while coming down at Tidus with an ax-kick, the sheer force of it creating a large shot of dust and dirt into the air.

"W-what is Jecht doing!" Rikku demanded with wide eyes from where she and the other Gull-wing girls were watching the exchange. "Is he trying to kill him?" She then added while Yuna looked even more worried and Paine frowned to herself.

"He's doing what he does best, not holding back…" A calm voice replied and the three Gull-Wing Girls turned to see a man in a long red coat with sunglasses looking own at the exchange.

"Sir-Auron! Please you must stop them!" Yuna declared while flying up to the man and Auron closed his eyes for a moment before glancing back down to where the two were. He then watched as Tidus twisted into a kick to Jecht's chin causing the man to stumble back for a moment before Tidus crouched and launched himself at the man.

"No, it is not my place to interfere in this matter… this is their story." Auron replied and Yuna turned to watch as Jecht dug one foot into the ground to slow himself down and brought both fists down on Tidus' back, slamming him into the ground hard once more. However Tidus then rolled out of the way as Jecht stomped into the ground, still managing to knock the blond into the air from the force of the stomp.

"Little punk!" Jecht growled while grabbing his blade and swinging it at Tidus, the blond quickly bringing his own up to block it. Gritting his teeth Tidus brought his feet down on the ground and barely managed to hold his father back with both hands.

"Selfish old bastard!" Tidus retorted while twisting down low enough, causing Jecht to loose his balance as the blond then placed a hand to the ground and kicked upwards into his chin, knocking him back several paces. Growling low in his throat Jecht narrowed his eyes while Tidus twisted into a flip and tried to connect a kick to the side of his father's head, only for him to grab his leg with a snarl.

"Cocky brat!" Jecht shouted at the blond haired teen while twisting on his heel and slamming him into the ground. The ground splintered as he did and Tidus grunted in pain before yelping as Jecht slammed him back first into the ground this time, then turned on his heel and threw the blond haired teen away. Rolling into a skid, the blond teen pushed off of the ground into a backwards skid, his feet and hand nearly smoking with heat as he came to a halt across from his father.

"Is that all you got?" Tidus challenged through heavy breaths and Jecht felt his eye twitch in annoyance while glaring at his son.

"Stupid stubborn kid!" Jecht growled out before lunging forward and slamming his fist into Tidus' stomach lifting him off of the ground. "Well seein' as you asked for it, I'll be happy to give ya all I got! Ya' good fer nothin' punk!" Jecht growled out while throwing Tidus back with his arm and then lunged at him and punched the boy through a building with a snarl on his face before quickly following after him.

"This is insane! Jecht is going to destroy everything if he keeps that up!" Rikku declared with wide eyes while Auron silently walked passed them, his sword balanced on his shoulders.

"Sir-Auron!" Yuna called out seeing him walking away and the man turned to look at them out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm going to follow them, if you want to make sure your friend survives, I suggest you do the same." Auron offered before walking away silently, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine looking to one another before quickly following the red clothed man. Meanwhile, Tidus grunted and let out several labored breaths as he finally stopped and then looked up to see the trail of destruction his father created. _'I'll give you this… ya old bastard… you can really throw a mean punch…'_ The blond haired teen thought to himself before hanging his head forward and tried to regain his strength from the beating his father had felt the need to deliver to him.

"Hey, Cry-Baby, you alive down there?" The man questioned as he walked through the debris of the buildings he'd shattered and rubbed the back of his head. _'I think I might've went a little overboard, eh, they were rebuilding anyways.'_ The dark haired man decided as he returned his attention to where his blond haired son was half sitting and stopped a few feet before him. "Tch, case yer not as tough as ya' thought, eh boy." Jecht noted mostly to himself before walking forward and looking down at the recovering blond haired teen silently for a moment. Letting out a breath with a shake of his head, the man then turned and sat down right next to Tidus while still holding his sword in one hand.

"Look what happens when I don't hold back." Jecht noted mostly to himself while Tidus grunted and let out a few labored breaths. "Well, now you know that nobody can beat me." Jecht stated while Tidus managed to open an eye to glare at him from the corner of his eye. "You're still just a kid. You've got limitless potential running through your veins." Jecht declared while pushing himself back up to his feet and grabbed his sword, Tidus' hand twitching as he did. "You'll be up on your feet by tomorrow." Jecht finished while walking away and Tidus gritted his teeth and pushed himself up, using his own sword as leverage to do so.

"Where are you going?" The blond demanded through gritted teeth and Ject came to a sudden stop. "This isn't over yet. There's no tomorrow for me…" Tidus declared while taking several steps forward and dragging his sword at his side. "Unless I beat you today!" Tidus declared defiantly while only just managing to stand on his feet and Jecht felt his brow twitch as he turned to the blond.

"Pesky little runt!" He growled out darkly as flames suddenly formed and rose to spiral around his body. "Who do you take after?" The man demanded with a frown on his face while looking at his blond haired son and Tidus gripped the hilt of his blade with both hands while lunging forward.

"Go ask yourself!" Tidus declared while lunging forward with all his remaining strength and swinging his blade at his father…

(Elsewhere…)

Naruto sighed lightly while walking down one of the many paths through Radiant Garden, completely ignoring the dust cloud in the distance. _'Not my problem, I'm being paid to do this, not go out looking for trouble.'_ Naruto decided as he and his group where sent towards the direction of the Dark Depths to look for Heartless or Unversed. He, Aqua, Yuffie, Sakura, Kakashi, and Spawn had been given the simple mission to go as far out of the city as possible and check for any mounting attack forces. They had left late in the day, and it just turned dark, the stars in the sky their only light on the long path. The path led through what could only be called a Crystal forest, with the very trees around them made of a translucent blue material.

"Mister Shadow." Aqua suddenly questioned while walking up beside of the disguised blond, Yuffie, Sakura, Kakashi, and Spawn all following behind them.

"What?" Naruto asked simply and Aqua blinked for a moment before replying.

"I just wanted to know how you got here from Twilight Town." Aqua replied and Naruto hummed for a moment while considering how he could answer, and then decided that the truth was the best option.

"I walked through an Open Dark-Corridor." He replied with a shrug and Aqua looked at him strangely.

"Weren't you afraid of what the Darkness might do to you?" She questioned and Naruto shook his head silently. "Why?" The blue haired woman questioned of the taller blond and he hummed lightly. As he did he considered how he should answer, and yet again he felt that a truthful answer was the best course with this girl. _'Strange… Why is it that I don't want to lie to her?'_ Naruto wondered to himself as even though he was bad at Lying, that didn't mean he didn't know how to do so.

"There are worse fates than what the Darkness could do to me…" Naruto replied ominously before walking ahead of the blue haired girl, Aqua quickly keeping step with the masked blond.

"But how can you be so unafraid, what if the Darkness did something to you?" Aqua questioned and Naruto glanced at her with one eye.

"And what if it did?" He questioned of the girl seriously and Aqua gaped for a moment before quickly regaining her composure.

"You could become evil or…" She started to say before Naruto shook his head and gave her a serious look from behind his mask.

"Evil? I doubt it very much." Naruto replied and Aqua stared at him in confusion, the blond haired teen closing his eyes. "It is not only anger and hatred that feed the Darkness, they are only the most well known because they are easiest to use to obtain powers of Darkness for combat. If one were to be so sorrowful that their heart was bathed in Sadness, they two would be consumed by Darkness and gain powers… but are they evil?" Naruto questioned of Aqua while looking at her from the corner of his eye and the blue haired girl thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

"No… but… so many Dark-Warriors have brought harm to the worlds. How can you ever be sure that it isn't just the Darkness itself that is evil?" Aqua questioned and Naruto looked to his hand and held it up before conjuring a ball of Dark Fire.

"I know because there are warriors of Light who wield the Darkness, and warriors of Darkness who wield the light. I have seen many that do great evil and believe that they fight for justice, merely because they want an excuse. And I have also seen some walk the path of a murderer, a monster, a devil, sacrificing their soul to a place in hell in order to protect those that they care for." Naruto replied while looking at the ball of dark-fire in his hand, Aqua staring at it for a moment as well as Naruto glanced back at her. "Who are we to judge there conviction… who are we to question there resolve? We are no one, for we are not god, we are but men, and as men we can only watch the world go on." Naruto said sagely while crushing the ball of Dark-Fire in his hand, Aqua lowering her eyes.

"I see… so how do you tell the good from the bad in all that confusion?" Aqua questioned of the blond haired teen and Naruto smiled faintly while looking to her.

"You don't, you just trust in your heart, and believe that the path you've chosen is the right one." Naruto said while bringing a hand over his heart, the blue haired girl smiling faintly at his side before bringing her blue Wayfinder out.

"I see, thank you Shadow." The girl offered with a smile before bringing the old charm to her chest and Naruto blinked for a moment. _'That charm… I have a green one I got with Master Xehanort's reports…'_ The blond haired teen thought to himself while then reaching to his pouch for a moment before turning back to Aqua.

"What's that?" Naruto questioned with obvious interest, the blue haired girl looking up to him before smiling as she traced the Wayfinder.

"A wayfinder, it's a good luck charm, I made one for myself and each of my best friends, Ventus and Terra. You see, somewhere out there there's this tree with star-shaped fruit. And the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good-lick-charms shaped like it, nothing can drive you apart, you will always find your way back to each other." Aqua replied and then gave a sly smile to the blond. "Technically I think you're supposed to make them with sea-shells, but I did the best with what I had." Aqua said with a shrug, Yuffie blinking as she remembered the Oathkeeper while Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Oi… you are a such a girl somtimes." Naruto said with a shake of his head and Aqua blinked before giving him a look.

"Hey! What do you mean, 'sometimes'?" She questioned with her hands on her hips and both stopped and the familiarity of the conversion and Naruto cleared his throat and looked upwards.

"So then… it isn't a real good luck charm?" Naruto asked nervously while trying to make their conversation a little less awkward than it had become.

"Well… that's yet to be seen. But I did work a little magic on it." Aqua replied and Naruto raised a brow while looking at her curiously.

"Really, what?" Naruto asked and a grin slipped across Aqua's face.

"An unbreakable connection!" She replied before looking up to the sky with her Wayfinder, her eyes widening as she felt the familiarity of this conversation grow.

"I see, then it must be very special to you." Naruto said while Aqua brought her arm and Wayfinder back down and cradled it in her hands.

"Yeah." Aqua replied unsurely while Naruto glanced up at the stars for a moment and then looked back to Aqua. "Cherish it, you never know when your friends will leave, but with that with you, you always know they'll come home." Naruto stated while Aqua looked to the disguised blond with a slight smile on her face.

"Thank you, Shadow." Aqua offered with a nod in his direction and Naruto closed his eyes and looked away from the blue haired girl silently. _'You're welcome Aqua…'_ The blond thought to himself while a companionable silence formed between the two as they continued walking amongst the outer section of Radiant Garden. However as this happened Yuffie leaned over to Sakura, the pink haired girl raising a brow while Kakashi idly listened in while reading his little orange book.

"Is it just me or is she trying to spend a little too much time with a Ruthless Mercenary to be healthy?" Yuffie questioned lowly while staring at the two, Sakura blinking for a moment before tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Um… she could just be trying to be friendly." Sakura offered and Yuffie scrunched up her face before glaring at Naruto's back angrily. Naruto however mentally sighed while listening to them, wondering why they thought they were being quiet.

"The guy extorted three thousand Munnie out of me instead of accepting my offer for one date, I don't think being friendly with him is a good idea…" Yuffie retorted and Sakura blinked before snickering to herself and shaking her head.

"Do you honestly think a date with you is worth three thousand Munnie?" Sakura asked Yuffie seriously with a flat look on her face, before suddenly smirking. "Or were you maybe planning on a few "naughty" little encounters with the mysterious masked Nin?" Sakura questioned suggestively and Yuffie blinked before blushing brightly and glaring at the pink haired girl. Ahead of them, Naruto blinked while listening in, wondering why Sakura would accuse Yuffie of such a thing. _'I mean yeah, her outfit is pretty suggestive… and my fee is three thousand munnie… and one date isn't worth that much… and she is kind of flirty… okay… I now I get it.'_ Naruto thought to himself with a shake of his head, wondering when Sakura had loosened up so much.

At his side however, Aqua was practically gaping at the accusation from the pink haired girl. _'W-what! How could she… I mean… How can she even joke about something like that?'_ The blue haired girl mentally demanded while blushing brightly and trying to regain her composure. _'N-Never mind, it's not my business, not my business…'_ Aqua thought to herself while going into a mental mantra and ignoring anything else that the Shinobi girls spoke to one another. Seeing Aqua with her eyes closed, Naruto wondered what was wrong with her for a moment before mentally shrugging his shoulders and deciding he didn't want to get involved.

"W-w-what kind of girl do you think I am!" Yuffie demanded loudly of the pinkette who merely snickered to herself once more while Kakashi rolled his eyes and decided to add in his own two cents.

"Well, not that I'm listening in or anything…" Kakashi started to say, drawing Yuffie's attention away from his now very amused pink-haired student. "I think that since we're working together with him she might just want to get to know him better. That way our teamwork will be better." Kakashi offered thoughtfully while Yuffie scrunched up her nose and looked towards Naruto with a frown.

"He's a ruthless mercenary, what's there to know about him beyond that?" The dark haired girl questioned and Kakashi lightly palmed his face. _'The worlds of light are all so naïve… I swear, the Ninja from around here are like Naruto… well, 'cept for Shadow up there.'_ The silver haired man thought then mentally amended as "Shadow" acted like a seasoned AnBu. However behind them Spawn started chuckling lightly while smirking to himself.

"**Maybe she's into the whole bad-boy image."** Spawn offered only for Sakura to twist around and slam her fist into the top of his skull for it.

"Some of us aren't stupid little girls, Baka!" Sakura growled out and Spawn groaned while pulling himself out of his crater and rubbing his skull. _**'Dear Kami-Sama that hurt, Dobe… wherever you are, whatever I said about being punched by her… I take it all back…'**_ Spawn thought to himself with a shiver while slowly following after the others, Kakashi chuckling lightly to himself.

"That's a first, usually it's Naruto you deck, not Sasuke." Kakashi noted while glancing at Sakura and the pink haired girl huffed while crossing her arms.

"I'm still undecided on whether or not I believe he's really Sasuke…" Sakura started to say, causing Spawn to palm his face and mutter to himself. "And even if he is, he deserved that for abandoning our village, nearly killing me, Sai, and Naruto, and generally being a prick. In fact, he deserves _**worse**_ than that if he's really Sasuke!" Sakura then added while glaring at Spawn who took several steps away from the pink haired girl as she started to crack her knuckles menacingly. However, deciding to save the heartless the pink haired girl's fury, Naruto stopped and turned towards them.

"I think we should rest for the night, we can pick back up tomorrow when we can actually see the path." Naruto suggested and Spawn quickly and rapidly nodded his head in agreement, Kakashi frowning for a moment before nodding as well, Sakura letting out a breath and then silently nodding her head, and Yuffie shrugging.

"I could light the way with my magic." Aqua suggested, trying to be helpful to the group of Shinobi, and Naruto reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose for a moment.

"Can you light up a large enough area that we aren't ambushed by Heartless or Unversed?" Naruto questioned and Aqua frowned before shaking her head, seeing what the masked blond meant. "Then it's better if we rest now, I'll keep first watch." Naruto stated and then walked over to a crystal shaped like a tree and jumped up, landing on one of the branches and then leaned back and stared into the distance.

"Who has second watch?" Kakashi questioned casually while looking up with his single eye and Naruto tilted his head to look at him from the corner of his own.

"Figure it out." The man replied and Kakashi shrugged before snapping his book shut and pulled a scroll from his vest. Unraveling it the man then bit his thumb and spread some blood across its length before placing it onto the ground.

"Kai!" He declared and with a plume of smoke, an unmade tent and sleeping bag appeared where the scroll had been laying. Both Aqua and Yuffie rolled their eyes at this, the two girls reaching behind their backs to pull a sleeping bag out of nothing.

"Where did those come from?" A slack-jawed Sakura questioned of them incredulously and Aqua shook her head while Yuffie snickered.

"Hammer-Space." They replied at the same time while sitting them out to the side and Aqua looked up to where Naruto was. "Shadow, do you want one of us to set up a sleeping bag for you?" She questioned and the black clad teen shook his head and looked down at her.

"No, I thought I'd sleep under the stars." He replied before returning to staring into the distance and Aqua frowned to herself for a moment before setting everything up, Sakura grumbling about not having a sleeping back while Spawn / Sasuke yawned and slipped into a shadow beneath a crystal tree.

"That is so weird." Kakashi decided and Yuffie waved it off.

"You should see Vincent, he slept in a coffin when we first met 'em!" The dark haired Ninja-Girl declared and Kakashi shivered slightly, though he knew of even stranger eccentricities, that one was still pretty strange. As the group started to settle down, Naruto discreetly reached back into his pouch and retrieved his own Wayfinder, gazing at it in his palm silently.

"An unbreakable connection, huh…" Naruto mumbled to himself before hearing someone walking towards him and slipped it away. Narrowing his eyes the disguised blond fingered one of his throwing knives while turning to the side to try and see who was approaching. _'It better not be a Shadow looking for a friend…'_ The blond thought to himself while thinking of the tiny ant like Heartless that were actually quite playful with beings of Darkness. "Who's there…?" He demanded in a low tone when no one spoke and then relaxed when heard Aqua let out a breath.

"Shadow, I was just wondering… do you really believe that I'll see my friends again?" The girl questioned of the blond and he was silent, his eyes falling to the wayfinder he was hiding from her. "I just… it's been only a week for me… but for them twelve whole years have passed. And even if I do find them, how will I know them after all this time?" The blue haired girl questioned worriedly while fingering her wayfinder Naruto slowly turning and then tilting his head to look down at her.

"I can't help you. Those are answers you'll have to find for yourself, Aqua." Naruto finally replied and the blue haired girl let out a sigh and leaned back into the crystal tree silently.

"You know, back then, me, Terra, and Ven. We were the best of friends, nothing could tear us apart or break our trust in one another." Aqua noted while lightly fingering the wayfinder and then traced the crown on the front of it absently. "But… after I became a Keyblade-Master, everything changed…" The blue haired girl admitted and brought the wayfinder to her chest with a sad frown. "I stopped believing in Terra, I treated Ven like a child… I thought our friendship could survive anything, but…" The blue haired started to say before falling silently and Naruto closed his eyes.

"Sometimes, a friendship has to be maintained through more than the mere presence of your friends. It could be as strong as steel as children, then shatter like glass when you grow up… because, when you lose your trust in your friends, they lose trust in you. The distance doesn't matter, nor do the hardships you face, so long as you trust and believe in those you care for, they will always be by your side." Naruto said sagely and Aqua smiled while looking up to the disguised blond, who quickly looked away from her.

"Thank you again, Shadow… you're definitely not really the Ruthless Mercenary that Mickey made you out to be." Aqua noted while walking away and Naruto turned to watch her go, before lifting his own Wayfinder once more. Gazing at the merald colored star, the blond haired youth smiled faintly as he held it upwards, the light of the stars above filtering through it in a translucent glow. _'No problem.'_ Naruto thought to himself before his eyes seemed to shine a brilliant azure blue as the wayfinder glowed for a brief moment, two presences forming in his heart. "Aqua… Terra…" The disguised blond whispered in Ven's voice while then gazing passed the wayfinder to the stars up above.

Meanwhile, Aqua made her way through camp and came to her sleeping bag before gazing at her wayfinder once more and held it up towards the stars. The same glow filtered through the material of the wayfinder as back when she was young. A smile worked its way across her features as a glow seemed to pass through the wayfinder, two familiar presences suddenly forming in her heart. "Terra… Ven…" She whispered to herself and then gazed to the stars in the sky, a strange sense of serenity that she hadn't felt for years returning to her. _'It doesn't matter how long, or what the distance may be… we __**will**__ be together again some day. I promise.'_ Aqua thought to herself as she stared at the many stars shining up above.

(Broken Kingdom…)

Within the castle of the broken kingdom, a man rests silently before feeling something warm within his chest. The familiar hunched over man found himself roused from his sleep and slipped off of his bed. _'What is that… this warmth… I know this feeling.'_ He thought to himself while slowly walking to the balcony of his room overlooking the entirety of the massive world he'd started living on. Reaching up and pushing his hood back, shadows slithered over his form, soon receding as a familiar man with silver hair stopped at the edge of the balcony and gazed up at the stars. _'My old friends? Is that really you?'_ He wondered to himself before reaching back and then withdrawing an orange star.

The star gave a brief glow and the silver haired man gave a wry smile before looking back up. "I see…" He whispered before holding the wayfinder up and gazed through the translucent material it was made of. As he did however, his eyes changed, no longer the bright amber-gold of Xehanort, now a calm azure blue… "Ven, Aqua. Someday, we'll be together again." The man promised even as his eyes slowly returned to the amber-gold hew they had been for so long. "But not yet." He decided with a shake of his head and turned to walk back to his bed, the wayfinder clinched into his fist tightly.

(Elsewhere…)

Tidus grunted as Jecht rammed him straight through the walls around Radiant-Garden, sending both tumbling down into The Dark Depths below. Kicking off of his old man, the blond haired teen flipped in the air and came down in a low crouch, Jecht landing on his feet with a grunt. Glaring at one another, Tidus and Jecht noted how badly they looked. Each one was littered with cuts and bruises, blood was half blinding the young blond, which he quickly wiped away, and Jecht could barely hold up his sword any longer. _'Heh… stubborn brat.'_ Jecht thought to himself before falling down onto his ass while trying to catch his breath.

"Ya know punk, if ya' need to take a breather… I'm willing to let ya…" The dark haired man said through panting breaths and Tidus scoffed while trying to get back to his feet, only to fall back down onto his side.

"N-No way… I'm st-still good… but… if you wanna rest… that's fine by me…" Tidus replied while pushed himself back into a sitting position against a rock, Jecht scoffing while glaring at the blond haired teen.

"As if a worthless little runt like you… could tire me out!" Jecht retorted before falling forward with a low groan, both looking more than a little out of it, their eyes growing heavy.

"You… crazy… old man… gonna kill yourself… at this rate…" Tidus retorted back and Jecht scoffed once more, still laying face forward his eyes closed.

"Yeah right… only way I'll drop dead… is if you manage… to get me in my sleep…" Jecht retorted while Tidus fell back against the rock, his eyes heavy before falling shut over his azure eyes.

"Sh-shut up… you… you old bastard…" Tidus retorted while finally falling to sleep, Jecht grunting as he did so as well, both laying in the middle of the Dark-Depths while Auron, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine looked down at the scene from the hole that Jecht had created.

"Shouldn't we take them somewhere more comfortable to rest?" Rikku suddenly asked while Yuna looke down at the two worriedly.

"No, we'll let them decide how this story will come to its end." Auron replied while sitting down and digging his sword into the ground, before leaning into it and closing his own eyes silently.

"But Sir-Auron! They could catch their death of cold out there! Or Heartless might even find them!" Yuna declared worriedly and the red-eyed man merely hummed lightly before opening his eye to gaze at her once more.

"If such a thing occurs, wake me and I shall protect them." The dark haired man responded before closing his eye once more and returning to sleep. Looking down towards Tidus and Jecht worriedly for a moment, Yuna then flew down into the Dark-Depths and landing next to the blond haired teen.

"Yuna's got it bad for blondie." Rikku suddenly noticed while sitting at the edge of the Dark-Depths over them, Paine rolling her eyes.

"It was obvious." She stated in a monotone and Rikku muttered something under her breath before yawning and rubbing at her eyes.

"Well I don't know about Yunie, but I'm catching some z's…" Rikku then said while laying back and crossing her arms under her head with a soft sigh, Paine merely looking to where Yuna was casting a Heal spell on Tidus before she then rushed over to cast one on Jecht. Shaking her head, Paine couldn't really understand the brown haired girl's thinking, they were tiny little fairies, and so her obvious attraction to the much larger human boy didn't make any sense to her…

"Love is blind…" She muttered considering the sheer difference in size between the two, then walked over and sat down before leaning into the back of Auron's sword and closing her own eyes as she fell to sleep…

(The Next Morning…)

Naruto and his group walked down the path of the crystal forest silently, Yuffie smirking when she noticed how close to Naruto Aqua was. Thinking quickly, the dark haired Ninja-Girl then grinned mischievously, both Kakashi and Sakura recognizing the look on her face. _'Is she related to Naruto or something?'_ Both Shinobi wondered to themselves even while Yuffie took a deep breath. "Hey Aqua, why are you staying so close to Shadow?" The girl questioned playfully and Aqua blinked before blushing lightly and grinning nervously.

"N-No reason, just wanted to keep him company." The blue haired girl responded while Naruto merely rolled his eyes before training them forward and raised a brow. They were approaching a rather old looking bridge over a river, with the middle all but knocked out of it. However standing on it ahead of them is a familiar grey skinned man in bright red and orange muttering to himself with his arms crossed and a deep scowl drawn across his face.

"What were those fools tryin' ter say ta me! Go out and do what you do best! Ha! What is that even supposed to mean? I, the Great Gilgamesh need not bother with such foolishness! I should be out seeking the great Excalibur, or a duel with powerful warriors, or better yet, I should seek my chosen rival, Bartz!" The strange man said in a semi-rant while Naruto and the others came to a stop and stared.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Sakura questioned with a frown while Yuffie blinked and sniffed the air, her eyes suddenly lighting up. _'I smell treasure!'_ She declared while slipping off to the side unseen by the others who were staring at the strange man in red. Frowning, Naruto sniffed at the air and frowned while glaring towards the man in red as he continued to rant, quite loudly, about this and that.

"This guy absolutely reeks of Darkness." Naruto stated and Aqua looked to him while Kakashi blinked and the stared at him strangely.

"You can actually smell Darkness in people?" Kakashi questioned of the masked blond incredulously and Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"After a while you pick up the habit, makes it real easy to find Dark users." The blond haired teen replied before narrowing his eyes onto the man in red. "Hey!" Naruto called out towards the man and he turned to them with a blink of his eyes. "Identify yourself." Naruto ordered flatly and Gilgamesh reached up and scratched the top of his hooded head for a moment while gazing at the group. He then narrowed his eyes while taking particular interest in Naruto's current attire. _'Hmm… I think I've seen him before… yes! I think he was in that coliseum that one time some girl with green hair bet Excalibur and fought against me with her friends! Maybe he has the sword and I can __**finally**__ get it!'_ Gilgamesh thought to himself and then crossed his arms slightly, one hand raised up to rub at his chin.

"Ah! So we meet again!" Gilgamesh declared while pointing at Naruto who raised a brow when he did. However Gilgamesh then frowned as he drew a blank on the Ninja's name, thus scratched his head for a moment. "Uh… what was your name again?" Gilgamesh questioned and the majority of the group sans Naruto face-faulted while staring at the man in red.

"You just said you knew him!" Kakashi shouted incredulously and the man scoffed while crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can't be expected to remember every warrior I've ever met or seen!" The man in red / orange replied with a frown while Aqua walked towards the strange warrior.

"Tell me, are you a Dark Warrior?" She questioned and Gilgamesh blinked for a moment before scratching his head.

"Well… not exactly cutey." The man replied before reaching up and taking another thoughtful look while Aqua wondered about the Cutey comment. "I remember it all like it was yesterday. Though it was more like a week or so ago. There I was facing my Chosen Rival Bartz in one on one combat, about to show him the true fruits of my training amongst the words… when I was suddenly pulled back into the void and spat out with those crazy Dead-Pool people and their master Liximawl!" Gilgamesh explained mostly to himself while pacing the ground; Yuffie growling as she followed behind him and stealthily started to pull something from him.

"The lady didn't ask for your life story buddy, are you good or evil?" Naruto questioned of the man with a frown on his face as he glared at the man in red and Gilgamesh thought about that for a long while.

"Technically speaking I'm sort of like a Chaotic and recurring opponent for heroes to do battle against if that's what you mean. So I guess I'm a dark warrior, the realm of light is sort of my home but I also live in The Void as well, but I digress…" Gilgamesh replied with a wave and that was all Aqua needed as she formed her Keyblade and the man's eyes suddenly lit up. "That sword!" He declared while moving with surprising speed to stand next to Aqua and then crouched down to look over her Keyblade almost reverently. "Amazing! Such a marvelous blade! What kind is it?" Gilgamesh questioned of the blue-haired girl and she took several steps back from him.

"It's a Keyblade…" She replied with confusion on her face and Gilgamesh grinned while standing up and rubbing at his chin.

"Hmm… so that's a Keyblade, I'd heard of them but never thought to find one before…" Gilgamesh thought to himself before smirking and turning to point at the blue haired girl with a wide grin. "Hey! How 'bout a little wager missy!" Gilgamesh declared and Aqua tilted her head to one side in confusion. "We have a little battle, winner gets to keep that Keyblade!" Gilgamesh declared and Naruto reached up and palmed his face through his mask. _'I am so glad I didn't form my own Keyblades around him…'_ The masked blond thought to himself before letting out an annoyed grunt while glaring at Gilgamesh as he waited for Aqua to, obviously in his mind, accept his challenge.

"The Keyblade can't be wagered, it goes only to ones with a strong heart." Naruto stated and Aqua nodded her head, Gilgamesh frowning at this before placing his hands on his hips as he stared at the blade once more._ 'So it's sentient as well as magical and powerful, what an absolutely marvelous weapon! That makes me want it even more than I did before!'_ Gilgamesh thought to himself while a grin worked its way over his face, Yuffie whistling lowly as she pilfered a shield from the man.

"Well then little-girl! I wonder if whether or not that sword will remain in your possession if I beat you in combat and prove the strength of my own heart!" Gilgamesh declared and Kakashi leaned over to Sakura.

"Is it me, or does he have a few screws loose?" The silver haired man questioned and Sakura shrugged her shoulders, though thought about the same thing about the strange man in red.

"Hey! I heard that!" Gilgamesh declared and Naruto let out an annoyed grunt while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Enough, if you want a fight then fine, but who the hell are you?" Naruto questioned and Gilgamesh grinned while reaching up to his chin with one hand and his other on his hip.

"Oh I'm so glad you asked!" Gilgamesh declared and Naruto felt his brow twitch violently. _'I've asked you like five times already!'_ The blond thought with an annoyed frown while Yuffie pulled a glove out from behind Gilgamesh. "I am the greatest Swordsmen in all the lands!" Gilgamesh then started before twisting into a pose with an amused look. "The seeker of swords both large and small!" He added before twisting and jumping to stand on one foot. "Holder of the great Genji Artifacts!" He added proudly, and then jumped into a Kabuki pose with a noise. "I am the magnificent, Gilgamesh!" He declared while lightly hopping on one foot, Naruto slapping his face when he did…

'_Kami-Sama, this guy has just got to be Ero-Sennin's Other…'_ Naruto thought to himself while Aqua just gaped towards the strange man.

'_Maybe I shouldn't have manifested my Keyblade.'_ She mentally decided to herself while Sakura and Kakashi both gaped.

'_What the hell was with that stupid dance just now?'_ The girl wondered while her Inner-Self decided to add its own two-cents. _**"CHA! And what was with that weird introduction?"**_ Her inner wondered and Sakura suddenly narrowed her eyes while mentally glaring. _'Hey! I thought I got rid of you!'_ The pinkette declared in annoyed while mentally glaring at her inner self.

'_Okay… I think this guy is related to Jiriaya-Sama… hmm… I wonder if he has any books?'_ Kakashi wondered to himself while looking up thoughtfully, seeing as the man had the same quirks as his favorite author. Meanwhile, Spawn just stared at Gilgamesh for the longest time before twitching violently.

'_Please, please, please, I want the dobe back! This guy makes him at even his most annoying seem tolerable!'_ Spawn / Sasuke thought to himself with a shiver while Yuffie hummed lightly to herself as she snatched some strange looking body-armor from the man in red.

'_He-he, this guy may be weird as hell, but he sure does have some nice things!'_ Yuffie declared while then grabbing the last thing she could, namely a helmet, and lunged away from Gilgamesh with a grin on her face. "Hey guys, look at the stuff I got!" Yuffie declared while presenting her haul and Gilgamesh blinked several times before dropping out of his Kabuki pose and started to pat around his waist. Realizing what had happened the grey skinned man then glared at Yuffie furiously.

"Hey! Those were mine!" Gilgamesh declared while pointing at the girl angrily and Yuffie merely stuck her tongue out at him, causing the man in the red hoot to growl lowly. "Impudent Thief! I'll bring you to justice!" The grey skinned man declared and then threw his arms to either side, forming what looked like a Naginata into either hand as he did. _'If this guy likes Swords so much… why isn't he actually using any?'_ Naruto wondered while then widened his eyes upon feeling a sudden surge of power come from the strange man.

"Oh shit… something tells me this is bad." Naruto noted to himself while Gilgamesh stomped on the ground with a scowl.

"Enough expository banter!" The man in red declared while looking at his opponents, Naruto pulling Gloria and his Short-Sword from his back while crouching down and glaring at the man. "Now we fight like Men! And Ladies! And Ladies who dress like Men!" Gilgamesh then exclaimed catching them all off guard with that last bit as a torrent of raw power then rose up around the screw loose warrior. "For Gilgamesh… it is morphing time!" Gilgamesh declared while jumping into the air and lunging forward with a swirl of his two Naginata at Yuffie. Widening her eyes at his speed, Yuffie cursed while flipping out of the way, Naruto and the others following suit, as Gilgamesh's attack hit the ground and cracked it with the sheer force of his attack.

"Holy shit!" Sakura exclaimed while sliding back into a crouch, nearly gaping in shock at the strength of the odd man. "How does this wacko have so much power?" She demanded while Kakashi was yet again reminded greatly of the Gama-Sennin Jiraiya, who also used his quirky mannerisms to put people off guard.

"That doesn't matter, what does is that he wants Aqua's Keyblade… and given that I can just bet he'll go to no ends to get it." Naruto stated and Gilgamesh suddenly grinned while lunging at Aqua and swinging his Naginata in an X. The girl flipping over him while Naruto lunged at the man and jumped into a kick to the side of his face. The grey skinned man was sent skidding back before flipping back to his feet and then shook his head. Looking up, the quirky man then widened his eyes as Spawn formed several chains from the shadows of his cloak and sent them flying towards him. Yelping, the strange man evaded several of the chains before flipping back and frowning.

"Hey! That's cheating!" He declared while Naruto came at him with a swing of his own blades, Gilgamesh stopping and grabbing his arm to look at Gloria. _'Oh no, not again…'_ The blond thought to himself while gazing at Gloria and a grin suddenly lit up the strange man's face.

"Say! Is this a real demonic knife! It's not exactly a sword but hey, it's another weapon that the Great Gilgamesh shall add to his collection of powerful blades!" Gilgamesh declared only for Naruto to flip off and kick off of the man, soon landing in a low crouch with a frown. Stumbling back for a moment, Gilgamesh frowned while glaring at the blond haired youth and brushing off his arms. "You know, you people are really making this harder than it needs to be." Gilgamesh declared while placing his hands on his hips, then yelped as Aqua came at him, forming a fireball at the end of her key and then twirling around as she sent it flying at the man. Yelping loudly, Gilgamesh ducked to the side and then flipped back to his feet with a blink of his eyes.

"Okay… maybe I'm talking too much." The man then thought while the others all had a "Ya think" go through their minds while glaring at the eccentric man. However the man then crouched down and lunged up into the air, gaining great distance before dropping down with his two Naginata pointed at Naruto. Cursing under his breath, the blond ducked out of the way while Gilgamesh grinned to himself. Forming a pair of axes out of nothing, Gilgamesh then lunged at Naruto once more, only for the blond to blink as a shield of some kind formed around his body, knocking Gilgamesh back. "Hey, what gives?" The man in red demanded before turning to see Aqua holding out her keyblade.

"I won't let you hurt my friend!" She declared while rearing her keyblade back and then lunged at a surprised Gilgamesh. Calling out loudly, the blue haired girl then quickly twisted on her heel and swung her blade at the man, sending several magical slashes out into Gilgamesh, throwing him back onto the bridge. Rolling back several paces, Gilgamesh then flipped back onto his feet and stumbled for a moment before quickly shaking his head and glaring at the group. "Alright, no more mister nice Gilgamesh!" The screw-loose warrior declared before lunging at them once more and forming two of Cloud's Buster Sword into his open hands.

"Holy Shit!" Yuffie declared as he came at her then yelped as he swung his blades at her wildly.

"Give back _**my**_ Genji-Equipment, Gaki!" The man demanded loudly and Yuffie got a stubborn loon on her face while glaring at the strange man.

"Never! I stole it fare and square! So it's _**mine**_ now!" She declared in retort and Naruto palmed his face while Aqua looked more than a little disturbed. _'I don't think a little armor is worth her life…'_ Aqua noted to herself while Naruto looked to Aqua and Spawn for a moment before letting out a breath.

"Listen, we need to attack him as one, that way we'll stand a chance at stopping him." Naruto ordered and the others instantly nodded in agreement with the masked blond while Yuffie continued to distract Gilgamesh just by being greedy / selfish. Twirling Gloria in his hand for a moment, Naruto then lunged at Gilgamesh, followed closely by Spawn, Aqua, Kakashi, and Sakura. Naruto then formed ball of Dark-Fire into one hand before swinging his arm, sending an arc of Dark-Fire flying towards Gilgamesh that impacted with his side and knocked him over. Moving quickly, Aqua jumped into the air and then stopped time at Gilgamesh while forming several spheres of magical power around herself.

As she did, Sakura ducked low and Kicked Gilgamesh upwards, only due to Aqua's spell he didn't actually move much. Kakashi then flipped into the air formed several seals before quickly using a Grand-Fire-Ball Jutsu that connected with Gilgamesh from above. Aqua, then moved herself, sending several spheres of magic hurtling towards Gilgamesh, smashing into him from every direction possible before the blue haired girl fell back to the ground and Gilgamesh started to feel all the effects of the attacks. He was first sent hurtling into the air, only to look as if Kakashi's fireball had hit him from above and sent him flying down, and then he bounced around in midair as if Aqua's attacks had done so to him, Spawn / Sasuke waiting for him with a smirk.

Forming several shadow-chains from his cloak, the Heartless sent them flying at Gilgamesh and grabbed him right out of the air with them. The red / orange clad warrior then widened his eyes while Spawn / Sasuke slammed him down into the ground, then twisted and dragged him along the ground before throwing him back onto the bridge where he rolled back in a skid before he finally stopped and landed on his head. The group couldn't help a collective wince when he did and then fell flat on his face with a low groan of pain, Naruto and the others all walking towards the bridge while Gilgamesh turned over on his back and looked up at them with wide eyes.

"Please no!" Gilgamesh said while holding up his hands to the group and then quickly bowed with his head to the ground. "Please forgive me! I was foolish to believe that I could take on so many strong warriors at once! I beg you warriors, please find the kindness to spare my life!" Gilgamesh declared, causing Naruto and his group to raise a brow while staring at the screw-loose warrior.

"Uh… okay…" Naruto offered unsurely only to curse as he and the others were suddenly thrown back by a surge of massive power. Gilgamesh then laughed as he flipped back to his feet and held out his hands, what looked like several spells and a shield of magic forming around his body.

"Ha! Fell for it!" Gilgamesh declared before throwing his arms to the sides as a surge of power spiraled around his body before flowing into the air. However the power soon dissipated and the group of six found their eyes widening and the jaws falling slack at what now stood before them in Gilgamesh's place.

The new being was easily nine-feet tall if not taller, and was muscular enough to probably lift a mountain without help, with a deeply tanned / brown skin tone and bright yellow eyes glowing within the shadows of his helmet, two normal arms and then six more coming out of his shoulders blades, and a pair of strange "tubes" that rise off the side of his abs to his middle back. He wears a deep red chest-plade with a gold collar and large pauldrons on his shoulders with an upward spike, a red and yellow sash wrapped tightly around his waist, red Samurai-esque tassets around his waist with a yellow and blue loincloth, yellow and blue leg armor, pointy red armored shoes, last was his samurai style helmet, with a demonic face mask that showed four eyes and a mouth filled with sharp teeth, a long trail of red hair falling from the top of the helm like a ponytail, and two yellow/blue horns curving up from the sides of his head as he flexed his arms which had wristbands and gloves, of either red blue or yellow on.

"Oh shit…" Kakashi muttered with wide eyes while Yuffie widened her own and then pushed the stuff she stole from Gilgamesh into Naruto's arms.

"Here! They're all yours!" She declared with wide eyes while Gilgamesh rolled each of his arms for a moment before slamming half his fists into his palms.

"**Mua ha ha ha! You have a lot of guts!"** Gilgamesh declared before throwing all eight of his arms to his sides and forming eye weapons into them. One of them was a single-edged-sword with a blue blade, its handle was black and nearly formed into the curved vaguely scimitar like blade. (Zantetsuken (FFD12)) The next was a thin double-edged blade with a crimson red color leading down into a golden-sun design that had numerous gold points and the longest directly at the sides, and a dark handle. (Excalibur (FFD12) Then came yet another sword, this one being a long double-edged broadsword with a burgundy color to it, a golden hilt that had an odd design, and black leather wrapped around the handle. (Genji Blade (FFD12))

Then came a strange white / gold knife in another hand that had an orange handle with a spiked end to it that resembled a Chicken of all things. (Chicken Knife (FFD12)) Next he carried one of his usual Naginata in another hand, an Ax in yet another of his hands, and last was Leon's Gun-Blade, and what looked to be Sephiroth's Massamune! **"But now you sniveling worms, you're all mine! So which sword should I stain with your blood!"** Gilgamesh wondered to himself while crouching down and glaring at the group beyond the shadows created by his helmet. The massive giant of a man then kicked off of the bridge, lunging at the group while swinging his swords and weapons at him with clear killing intent…

TBC…

AN:

Naruto's Keyblade's…

Dark-Heart…

Soul-Blade…

Void-Gear…

Vorpal-Key…

One-Winged-Angel…

No-Heart…

Lost-Memory…

Other Weapons:

Silver-Short-sword…

Silver Throwing Knives…

Blitz (Demonic-Shotgun)…

Gloria (Demonic Knife)…


	40. Shadow Pt 2

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 39**_: _**Shadow Pt. 2**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(Mirage Arena…)

"So this place is some kind of training facility or something?" Sora questioned as he and Firion stood in the center of the Mirage Arena Main-Lobby, the weapon-master merely shrugging his shoulders in response. Sora, Goofy, and the Weapons-Master named Firion had been walking around the Lobby for a short while, while Cecil had wandered off to some other part of the strange "World". _'More like a ship in space or something really.'_ Sora thought to himself with his arms crossed behind his head as he stood with Firion, Goofy looking at a control panel over to the side.

"That's what Cecil believes at least, but there's no telling with this place really is." The silver haired man replied with a shrug of his shoulders, having figured he would just have to go with Cecil's instincts on the matter. Meanwhile as they were speaking, Goofy was scratching his head while looking at the control panel, a light flashing on it. _'Wonder what that's flashing fer?'_ The Dog man thing, wondered to himself before then tapping the side of his muzzle lightly. _'Only one way ter find out.'_ He mentally decided before pressing the button below the light, causing a light to come on above where Firion and Sora were standing.

"What the?" Sora questioned while Firion looked over to Goofy with wide eyes upon seeing what he was doing.

"Hey wait!" He called out only for himself and Sora to vanish a mere second later, Goofy yelping when he saw what happened.

"Sora!" He declared while running over and looking for his friend. "Mister Fir… firo… firi… Mr. Silver haired guy?" Goofy questioned while looking and then started to shake nervously. "Oh I jus' know this is my fault…" He noted to himself while hanging his head, unaware of where his friend had vanished off too… If he did, he'd be very relieved as the two reappeared within a large circular arena at the center of the station that made up the world of Mirage-Arena. Groaning lightly as he got up, Sora looked to see Firion shaking his head and rubbing his face.

"That friend of yours should learn not to press buttons like that…" Firion noted aloud and Sora gave a weak grin in response before pushing himself up to his feet and started to look around.

"Where are we?" He questioned of Firion and the silver haired man shrugged his shoulders before both of them spotted a figure in a black cloak standing across from them. "Great another person in that stu…" Sora started to complain before blinking, as a strangely familiar warmth began to spread out from his chest. "Wait a second, do I… know you?" Sora asked while taking a step towards the figure in the cloak, whom turned on her heel to reveal she was in fact a girl. Tilting her head, the girl crossed one arm behind her back and raised her free hand to lightly rub at her chin.

"We have… but that was in another lifetime." She noted aloud, mostly to herself, and Sora instantly recognized the voice she used.

"Kairi?" He questioned while taking another step forward and the cloaked girl was oddly silent. "Kairi, is that you?" Sora questioned only for the girl to shake her head and then form a Keyblade into her hand, only it wasn't one Sora recognized.

"No… I'm not her. I'm just someone unimportant." The girl declared with a slightly downcast sound to her voice and tone.

"Then what are you doing here?" Firion suddenly questioned while walking forward and the girl merely lowered her head.

"I don't know… I was traveling with someone, and we were separated." She replied and Sora growled while rubbing his hair with agitation. The girl's voice was identical to Kairi's, her body-structure was a match, her height, and everything else was the same save for the Black-Cloak!

"Enough! Why do you sound so much like Kairi?" Sora demanded while looking at the girl and she was silent once more. Twitching in annoyance from her silence the brown haired youth formed his Kingdom Key into his hand and pointed it at the girl. "Who are you?" Sora demanded and she turned on her heel, putting her back to them once more. Sora blinked, as she then seemed to zip down the bottom of her hood a bit before lowering her hood, long and spiky ebony black hair spilling down to just below her shoulder blades. Watching in fascination, Sora's eyes widened as the girl turned to show she also had Kairi's face, save for her ebony hair, and having his own azure eyes…

"My name is Xion, and I once knew he who stood at the other side of your heart." Xion replied with a slight smile before holding her hand forward and dispelling her normal Keyblade.

"H-How… how do you look and sound so much like Kairi?" Sora questioned with his Keyblade hanging at his side and the black haired girl crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes while taking a thoughtful expression.

"I suppose, it's cause original she was your most powerful memories when I was created." Xion replied with a wave and Sora blinked in confusion as she turned to look at him. "However, since I was brought back as my own person, I suppose this form is what I wanted to look like." Xion replied while Sora just seemed to stare at her, Firion frowning at the tiny tidbit that she unwittingly let out.

"So from what you're saying you're not a real person then?" Firion questioned and the black haired girl seemed to flinch for a moment before crossing her arms and letting out a slight sigh.

"No… and I suppose I am, or at least I was, an Unversed since I was formed out of the captured memories and emotions in Sora's heart." Xion replied mostly to herself and Sora rapidly shook his head while blinking his eyes open and close several times.

"Wait, you were made out of me?" He questioned and Xion giggled to herself before smirking towards the brown haired boy.

"That's right sleepy head! I was made while you were snoozing for a year." She replied, and then blinked as she brought a hand up to her mouth. "Where did that come from?" She wondered to herself while Sora merely reached up and scratched the back of his head for a moment, and then chuckled lightly.

"It sounds like something Kairi would say back when we were little." He admitted with a smile and the black haired girl looked at him with interest. "So since your made from my memories of back then, maybe a little bit of Kairi snuck in with you." He offered and the black haired girl hummed lightly while closing her eyes in thought.

"Maybe…" She admitted and then held out her hand to the side as a grin slipped its way across her face. "But ya know Sora, I'm not a gentle little princess like her!" Xion declared while reaching up and then threw off her cloak to reveal a set of glowing clothes. The clothes continued to glow bright white for several moments before the glow faded to show her in a new outfit.

She wears a white tank-top that leaves her midriff exposed, the straps of a black sports bra visible at her shoulders, with a black-choker collar around her neck with a tattered black bandanna hanging around her neck, what looked like a black version of his Crown-Necklace hanging over the bandanna, leather bracers cover either of her arms with metal plates along their lengths, fingerless black gloves covering her hands with silver rings at their ends and studded knuckles, a familiar purple skirt with black bicycle shorts under them, a black belt around her waist with straps hanging from her hips similar to Kairi's own belt only with a black crown-chain at her right hip, and a pair of familiar black boots like what she wore with her Black-Cloak.

'_She's dressed like a combination of Kairi when we were kids, Kairi now, a little bit of me, and I guess the rest is from herself… though the gloves sort of resemble my own I guess…'_ Sora noted to himself, figuring the gloves / bracers on her arms, shorts, bandanna, and boots were from herself while the rest looked to be inversions of his necklace and chain and / or from Kairi at different ages… unless he wasn't aware of his girlfriends tastes or something. However while he was lost in thought, the girl dropped into a crouch and then lunged at him, grabbed something out of his pocket, and then flipped back away from him.

"Hey!" Sora declared while checking on what was missing and then looked to her with wide eyes as she held a familiar Keychain in her hands with a grin.

"Seeing as this came from one of my best friends, you won't mind if I have it will ya?" Xion asked and before Sora could even think to object, the ebony haired girl swung her arm, the Keychain glowing brilliantly as it formed into a familiar Keyblade. "Great! Thanks!" She declared while twirling the blade in hand before holding it in a reverse grip in her left hand. _'Okay… she definitely inherited more from me and the young Kairi than the mature one…'_ Sora thought to himself before a slight smile worked its way across his face as he held the Kingdom Key up. _'And now that I think about it, that was back when Kairi was the most fun!'_ Sora couldn't help but think to himself as his girlfriend was more "mature" now and something of a spoilsport at times.

Focusing on the Keyblade in her hands, Sora noted that it was one of the more Sword shaped ones, it possesses a curved and notched white blade with a noticeably sharp edge and curves into a sideways jagged S shape, the black and white teeth off of it resembling Nobody thorns, the guard of the weapon is black and rounded with white Nobody Thorns near its upper most section, at the center of the hilt is the Nobody-Emblem, with a black and white checker patterned handle, the chain is made up of separated stylized versions of a Nobody Emblem, and ending with a familiar X… (KH 358/2 days: Two Become One…)

Flipping the TBO Keyblade into the air and catching it, Xion then grinned towards Sora with amusement. _'Well Roxas, how 'bout we do this together.'_ She thought to herself and could almost swear she felt her friend grin in agreement with her through the TBO. Looking up to Sora, Xion twirled the weapon in her hand before holding it in a reverse grip with a smirk. "So what do ya say, you wanna spar?" She questioned with a wink and Sora blinked before grinning as he put a foot forward and got into a stance.

"Sure, sounds like fun!" Sora declared and then looked over to Firion. "Would you mind sitting this out?" Sora questioned of the Silver haired warrior and he reached up and rubbed his head before smiling unsurely.

"If you're certain you wish to fight her on your own, I shall honor that request." Firion replied and then walked over to the side to watch the fight.

As soon as Firion was out of the way, Sora dropped back into a stance and watched as Xion bounced on her heels for a moment then crouched down and lunged at him. Quickly bringing up his Kingdom-Key to block Sora then swung outwards, throwing Xion back before lunging at her as well. However the girl got down low and jumped into a spin into the air before bringing her heel down in an Ax-Kick. Quickly rolling out of the way, Sora turned with a surprised look as Xion quickly came at him once more, swinging TBO in a strange backhanded style he'd never seen before. _'Where did __**that**__ come from?'_ Sora wondered to himself before swinging his Keyblade and sending a fireball at the black haired girl.

Xion merely did a cartwheel to the side in order to evade the ball of fire and came out still standing and Sora tilted his head and just stared at the girl. _'Wait, that too… where did that one come from?'_ He wondered to himself while Xion used his distraction to lunge at him while dragging TBO along the ground, sparks flying from the sharpened edge of the blade. Cursing under his breath, Sora ducked out of the way as the girl took a swing at him then skidded to a stop and lunged at him once more. Bringing up his KK to block the incoming attack, Sora locked their blades together and widened his eyes as he realized the girl was just as physically strong as him…

'_That's kind of surprising given how she's no bigger than Kairi… unless Kairi isn't telling me how good she really is…'_ The brown haired boy thought to himself and made a note to ask his girlfriend just how good at fighting she was. However he then shook his head of such thoughts to focus on the here and now as he shoved Xion back and swung his Keyblade upwards to summon a bolt of Thunder down at her. Flipping back this time, Xion then jumped backwards and into the air to evade the next bolt of lightning… then just stayed in the air with an amused smirk as Sora gaped at the black haired girl.

"Wait, hold up! You can fly without being on Neverland?" Sora demanded of the girl incredulously and she whistled lightly to herself, both trying and failing to hide the amusement in her azure eyes. "Oh c'mon, that's not fair…" Sora said with a pout and Xion shrugged her shoulders while looking down at the brown haired boy.

"Life's not fair." She offered rather pointedly before moving her legs upwards and kicked off like a rocket. Flying at Sora, the ebony haired girl took another swing at him, yet he quickly evaded her as she turned in midair and slowed herself before she'd go too far off. _'I should really practice flying like this more often…'_ Xion thought while making a mental note to do just that later on before launching herself at Sora once more. The brown haired boy yet again rolled out of the way and Xion frowned to herself before an idea popped into her head. Flying to the side of the arena, the girl ran up the side of its length before kicking off of the ceiling directly above Sora and jetting down.

Looking up with wide eyes, Sora cursed while evading several swings of Xion's Keyblade before rolling to the side to get out of the way. The girl herself flipped in midair and placed her feet back onto solid ground with a smirk. Taking a deep breath the girl then spun on her heel while swinging TBO. "Salvation!" The girl then declared as she lifted TBO up into the air, the arena changing as thirteen pillars of light formed around her body. The pillars seemed to do nothing for a moment before they then spun around Xion's body and spread outwards towards Sora. Widening his eyes, Sora rolled out of the way by getting between two of the pillars and then frowned.

'_Hey, I think that that was one of Roxas' moves… so does that mean she can fight like Roxas as well as Kairi and me?'_ Sora wondered to himself as Xion then lowed TBO while looking at him with a slight smile on her face. "So, are you ready to call it quits yet or what?" She asked him with her hands on her hips, head tilted to one side and a grin worked its way across Sora's face. _'Yeah, she has definitely got more of the young Kairi in her than the mature one.'_ Sora mentally decided as he easily recognized that stance from back when he was younger.

"No way! I'm just getting started!" Sora declared loudly while thumping his chest and the black haired girl merely rolled her eyes. _'Whatever you say, but I guess Roxas is right, you really are a good Other.'_ Xion thought to herself before lunging forward once, Sora doing much the same as they brought their blades together once more…

(Radiant Garden…)

The group had learned one thing as they fought Gilgamesh, and that one thing was that the Screw-Loose warrior was relentless. **"Look out below!"** Said insane eight-armed warrior declared as he fell from the sky while holding two Halberds down towards Kakashi. Cursing under his breath, the silver haired Jounin rolled out of the way and then looked to the eight-armed warrior with a scowl. _'What'll it take to bring this freak down?'_ Kakashi wondered to himself before quickly ducking back to evade a swing from one of Gilgamesh's many swords. Flipping back to evade a helm-breaker attack, Kakashi skidded to a halt in a low crouch while Spawn / Sasuke lunged passed him.

Jumping up high into the air Sasuke threw his arms downwards and his cloak seemed to come alive, numerous tendrils of shadow lashing out and wrapping around Gilgamesh and his arms. _**'I didn't know I could do that…'**_ Sasuke thought to himself with a blink of his eyes as he landed behind the Screw-Loose Warrior and tried to hold him as Sakura lunged at him. Rearing her arm back, Sakura jumped forward towards Gilgamesh, only for the Screw-Loose warrior to grin. Gripping each of the shadowy tendrils holding him with his eight-arms, Gilgamesh then swung Sasuke into Sakura and slammed the two into the ground. Pulling Sasuke back by the tendrils, Gilgamesh then spun in place on his heel, swinging Sasuke around in a circle before bringing him back down and slamming him into the ground.

'_**I had no idea heartless could ever be in this amount of sheer pain…'**_ Sasuke thought to himself with a groan while his tendrils released the Screw-Loose warrior and Gilgamesh brushed his arms off. **"Man, you guys really don't know who your messing with do you?"** The Screw-Loose warrior noted before moving back slightly to evade a fuma-shuriken from Yuffie. Narrowing his eyes, the Eight-Armed Behemoth turned with six of his arms crossed and glared down at the girl. Grinning meekly, Yuffie then chuckled nervously while raising her hand into a slight wave.

"Hi." She offered lamely before running to the side as Gilgamesh formed his weapons into his hands and gave chase.

"**Don't think you can run coward! The Great Gilgamesh shall chase you to the ends of the earth if he must!"** Gilgamesh declared while running after the dark haired Ninja-Girl who whined in her throat and turned a corner. Skidding on one foot as he turned, Gilgamesh followed after her once more while Aqua came at him from the side. Seeing her from the corner of his eye, Gilgamesh placed a foot forward to come to a stop to evade Aqua slicing into him with her Keyblade. Growling low in his throat the eight-armed behemoth lifted his weapons and swung at the bluenette wildly. Twisting and turning in midair with amazing grace, Aqua evaded each and every one of the swings before placing a hand on Gilgamesh's head and pushing off of him.

Stumbling back with his arms waving wildly, Gilgamesh soon came to a stop and turned to see Aqua landing in a low crouch behind him. Cracking his neck and exhaling through his nose, the eight-armed behemoth lunged at the girl once more. Swinging one sword, Gilgamesh frowned as she jumped back to evade, only for him to jab his Halberd and Naginata forward. Twisting around the weapons Aqua brought her keyblade over her head and brought it down at the Screw-Loose warrior, only for him to block with his Chicken-Knife and grin. **"Got ya now!"** He declared loudly while swinging his Genji-Blade and Gun-Blade at her midsection, only for Aqua to quickly roll over him by using her keyblade as leverage to land behind him.

Growling lowly, Gilgamesh turned into a kick that connected with Aqua, sending he skidding to the side before impacting with a large boulder. **"Bwa ha ha ha ha! Your puny efforts are nothing! The Great Gilgamesh could fight a hundred warriors such as yourselves!"** The Eight-Armed behemoth declared with what was probably a grin under his strange helmet / mask. Grimacing in pain, the Bluenette looked towards where Gilgamesh was and pushed herself back to her feet. Shaking her head, the bluenette then took a deep breath and swung her blade in a gentle arc, icy wind seeming to chill her as she exhaled a bit of vapor.

"Deep freeze!" The blue haired girl declared loudly while a bolt of ice was fired from the tip of her Keyblade and into Gilgamesh. The Eight-Armed warrior was frozen into a block of ice within a few seconds and Aqua let out a quick breath of relief seeing her spell work. However she then widened her eyes as Gilgamesh managed to break free from the ice with his sheer strength. Growling as he brushed off his arms for a moment, Gilgamesh then shivered and started to rub his arms hurriedly.

"**MAN THAT'S COLD!"** Gilgamesh declared loudly and Aqua felt the need to palm her face from his sheer insanity. _'He can't be sane, he just can't be sane…'_ She thought with a shake of her head as he'd just been frozen in ice, broken free through his sheer strength, and then acted like the cold had been unbearable. Finished with his warm up, Gilgamesh then stomped on the ground and launched himself at Aqua. Seeing him coming the blue haired girl quickly erected a barrier and then winced as Gilgamesh smashed into it face first… **"OW…"** He noted with one eye closed while looking at the girl, Aqua wondering just what was wrong with him for what felt like the millionth time.

However Gilgamesh then used one of his blades to shatter her Barrier and quickly started to swing his blades at her once more. Yelping as she dodged and weaved around the Screw-Loose warrior's attacks, the bluenette frowned as she realized he was probably grinning the whole time from the look of his eyes. _'Sane or not, this guy is really dangerous.'_ Aqua thought to herself while kicking back to evade as Gilgamesh slammed his blades into the ground where she had been. However several Shuriken then impacted with his back and the eight-armed warrior turned with a scowl to see Naruto. Narrowing his eyes on the Genji-Equipment still in the blond's arms, Gilgamesh launched himself at the masked blond.

Widening his eyes, Naruto jumped over Gilgamesh to evade the attack and then cursed as he swung a sword at him. Quickly flipping back the blond landed in a skid with a deep scowl across his face. _'This guy is seriously getting on my nerves…'_ Naruto thought to himself as Gilgamesh ripped his way through the others, shrugging off some rather impressive abilities as if they were nothing. _'Damn you Yuffie, why did you have to pawn these off on me?'_ Naruto wondered while looking to the artifacts that his fellow Ninja had shoved into his arms before Gilgamesh's assault had begun in earnest. Shaking that thought off, Naruto turned to evade a sword that would've cleaved him in two and then jumped up and rolled over Gilgamesh's shoulder to land behind him.

Twisting low, Naruto managed to sweep the giant off his feet and then lunged out of the way as he slammed into the ground with a tremor. **"Why you little!"** Gilgamesh raged while Naruto quickly placed his hand into the Genji-Glove and pulled it on. He idly noted it was fingerless with silver rings around the portion of his fingers it covered, with silver studded knuckles, the rest of the glove formed into a Kurokote Gauntlet, thus covering the back of the hand wrist and forearm while leaving his fingers and palm bear, with a heart shaped symbol made out of two black Tomoe marks, straps along the underside to tighten it, a yin-yang symbol on the plate at the back of his hand, the entire thing being made out of a very dark crimson, near black, material.

With the glove on, Naruto then had to quickly jump up as Gilgamesh swung the blade that looked like Sephiroth's Massamune at him and then quickly pulled on the Genji-Shield. The shield was attached to another Kurokote Gauntlet, which was identical to the one formed out of the Glove, only without the glove section, the shield was rounded with a yin-yang symbol on the front, made out of a deep dark crimson near black metal, with black trimming around the edges of it. Landing once that was done, Naruto watched as Gilgamesh rose up to his feet and came at him once more. Using the Shield to block one of Gilgamesh's blades, Naruto then evaded the others before jumping up into a head butt that connected with Gilgamesh's chin.

"**OW! YOU MADE ME BITE MY TONGUE!"** Gilgamesh declared while the heels of two of his hands were on his cheeks and Naruto ignored him while throwing the Headband / hood portion of his mask to the side and quickly slipping the Genji-Helmet on instead. The helmet was made of the same dark-crimson near black material as the other Genji-Items, with a green gem at the center of a thick metal plate at his brow, small horns at the sides of the plate, and long ninja ties hanging from the back, with leather segmented plates forming into a samurai style helm, the whole thing vaguely resembling the Sandaime's own helmet / Hittai-Ate, only with a black metal mask over his lower face and leaving only his eyes visible.

"Yeah well get over it…" Naruto grumbled towards Gilgamesh quietly, yet the strange man still heard him and came at him in a rage.

"**What'd you say punk?"** Gilgamesh demanded and Naruto mentally cursed, though was thankful he could use one arm again while he held the Genji-Armor under his other arm. Ducking and weaving around the screw loose warriors blades, Naruto noticed Aqua coming at him from the side and smirked. Ducking down, Naruto felt Aqua move over him and connect a kick to Gilgamesh's face, knocking the Screw-loose warrior on his back once more. **"Oh Dammit! I hate having to get up from my back!"** Gilgamesh declared as he had to push himself onto his stomach before pushing himself back up onto his feet, yet the others were on him before he could, Sakura kicking him in the ribs and sending him flying into the distance…

"Think its over?" Kakashi questioned seeing Gilgamesh land on the other side of the bridge and Sasuke let out a grunt.

"**Not if he wants that armor back…"** The Heartless noted more to himself than anyone and Yuffie nodded her head, all of them groaning as a dust-cloud approached them from the distance. Soon enough they could see Gilgamesh at the other side of the bridge, only he then jumped up and flew towards them from the other side. **"Wow… he really wants his armor back, huh?"** Sasuke noted more to himself than anyone, Sakura and Kakashi just gaping as he approached them at high speed.

"He can fly!" Sakura demanded with wide eyes, watching as the eight-armed warrior somehow managed to fly over the gorge. However, she then deadpanned, as he seemed to scream as he approached and she quickly jumped out of the way as Gilgamesh face-planted with the ground. Looking to the dust with a flat expression, Sasuke then reached up and palmed his face lightly.

"**Yeah… but his landing could sure use some work…"** The Dark-Spawn Heartless quipped dryly while shaking his head, the others instantly agreeing with his assessment. However Gilgamesh then pushed himself back to his feet with a roar and glared at them angrily.

"**Alright! I've had enough playing around with you! No more, mister-nice Gilgamesh! Now the gloves really come off!"** The Screw-Loose eight-armed warrior declared while slamming two of his hands together to create a thunderclap of wind and send the Nin and Sasuke around him flying back. Digging her heels into the ground, Aqua managed to hold on, and Naruto had already ducked behind a rock when he did so. Quickly slipping on the Genji-Armor to free his arms, Naruto then lunged out and into a low crouch.

Much like the rest of the set it came from, The Genji-Armor was a dark crimson in color with black borders, it was made up by a single solid plate covering his chest, and black straps traveling over his shoulders and under his arms to weave together with a single metal plate with a yin-yang on it at the center of the straps, a heart-symbol on the center of his chest made of two tomoe-marks, and samurai style shoulder armor hanging from the straps over his shoulders. Cracking his neck and punching a fist into his open palm, Naruto then crouched down while tightening the straps that made up a portion of the Genji-Equipment as he gazed towards Gilgamesh. Said eight-armed behemoth was gazing right back at him and then crouched down as well.

Finishing with the tightening, Naruto pulled Gloria back out into his left hand and lunged at the massive screw-loose warrior. Gilgamesh grinned as he did and lunged at the blond haired ninja as well, swinging the Genji-Blade at him as he got close. However Naruto blocked with the Genji-Shield and then kicked the blade up into the air before twisting around and forming a bit of wind between his hands. Digging his feet into the ground, Naruto then pushed the wind into Gilgamesh's chest, sending him skidding back as the blond haired youth caught the Genji-Blade in right hand. Gritting his teeth with a growl in his throat, Gilgamesh quickly stomped into the ground and skidded to a stop.

"**Oh great… now he has the complete set…"** Gilgamesh muttered under his breath as Naruto brought the Genji-Blade down, onto a rock. The outer shell of the weapon then chipped away to reveal a Katana beneath it. This one bearing a shortened single edged crimson blade with an ebony edge, the guard was a yin-yang with notches on its outermost edge, the handle was simply wrapped in black leather, with a golden chain extending from the pommel of the hilt. Twirling the blade in hand for a moment, Naruto then leaned it into his shoulders with a smirk beneath his mask.

"You don't seem so cocky now… is there something special about this stuff?" Naruto questioned of Gilgamesh while pointing the Genji-Blade towards him and the screw-loose warrior huffed before crossing each of his arms.

"**If you really must know, those weapons were passed down to the greatest warriors of my people for generations! The blood, sweat, and dust that has collected on them for years has toughened them to near unbreakable levels! And never before has the complete set of Sword, Shield, Helm, Armor, and Glove used together, even I have no idea what they could do as it's never happened before! But now you have the complete set, and we shall soon see…"** Gilgamesh explained and then stopped upon noticing that Naruto was ignoring him with a yawn. **"Hey! Listen here you sniveling worm! I'm not gonna repeat myself!"** Gilgamesh declared loudly while glaring at the blond haired youth, only for Naruto to smirk to himself.

"What was that?" Naruto questioned of the Screw-Loose warrior and Gilgamesh twitched while glaring at him.

"**I said, I'm not gonna repeat myself!"** Gilgamesh declared only to stop for a moment and then start to hit his himself when he realized he just repeated himself. Snickering quietly, Naruto then watched as Gilgamesh started to shake in rage, only to stop and turn stone serious as a visible aura of power began to form around the Screw-Loose warrior. **"You make me so angry! Alright, I've had it, that's enough, it's over, no more, this is it!"** Gilgamesh roared out before punching a fist into any of his opened hands with a snarl on his face. **"Now I'll reveal my TRUE power!"** He roared as the aura suddenly began to stain very skin. His skin became darker than before, his wrist guards turned black and purple, his armor turned black and red with purple jewels, and his sash / loincloth turned mostly red with the aforementioned colors as well…

"What the hell…" Naruto mumbled quietly as Gilgamesh then formed his weapons into his eight hands, a simple looking mace now replacing the Genji-Blade as he cracked his neck.

"**This is the power I obtained while I was trapped in the vastness of the Inter-Dimensional Rift known as The Void!"** Gilgamesh stated with a surprisingly cold tone of voice before walking towards Naruto calmly. Sakura attempted to attack him from the side, only for the Eight-Armed Behemoth to back hand her and send her flying back into a boulder where she crashed through it… Widening their eyes the remaining warriors looked back to Gilgamesh as he then crouched down and lunged at Naruto, ramming into him and knocking him into the gorge. Jumping in after him, Gilgamesh shot down like a rocket and slammed his fists into Naruto, crushing him into the ground of the gorge before flipping off of him and landing in a crouch.

Gritting his teeth in pain, Naruto rolled back onto his feet and then looked to the enormous eight-armed warrior with wide eyes. _'Why the hell did he hide this much of his true power?'_ The blond haired teen wondered to himself while slowly rising back to his feet and swaying for a moment. Shaking his head to regain his bearings, Naruto glared at Gilgamesh as he just seemed to stand across from him silently. "Why not attack while I was getting up?" Naruto questioned and Gilgamesh scoffed before crossing his arms over his chest with a scowl under his helm / mask.

"**Why would I resort to such treachery? I'm a true warrior boy, when I fight it is to win! But I won't discard my honor to win my battles! I'll win by my own strength and with my enemy at my feet because I put them there! Not because I got them with their guard down!"** Gilgamesh replied firmly while reforming each of his weapons into his hands while taking a stance across from Naruto. **"Now, stop holding back and show me your own true strength!"** Gilgamesh declared and Naruto blinked before staring at the eight-armed behemoth with shock.

"How did you know I was holding back?" Naruto questioned with a frown and Gilgamesh scoffed while shaking his head.

"**I'm a bit crazy, but I'm not a fool boy. I sensed that you were holding back your true strength… can't for the life of me figure out why you'd do that, but I figure it has somethin' to do with them up there."** Gilgamesh replied and Naruto felt a soft smile cross his lips as he shook his head with a chuckle. _'He has a screw loose and yet he's more perceptive than any of them up there…'_ Naruto thought to himself while exhaling a breath and looking up, then closed his eyes into an eye smile.

"Gilgamesh." He stated and the eight-armed warrior raised a brow. "Thank you." Naruto offered with a bow of his head and Gilgamesh reached up and rubbed at his head for a moment.

"**Er… it weren't nothin' you sniveling worm, I just wanted a good fight is all!"** Gilgamesh declared with a dismissive tone and Naruto shook his head while exhaling a breath and releasing the restraint he'd held on his power.

"Still… thank you." Naruto stated just as the darkness poured out of his body and nearly sent Gilgamesh flying back. Looking at the blond haired youth with wide eyes, Gilgamesh then watched as he spread out his arms and held his left arm into the air. Instantly there was a flash of light as a new Keyblade formed into his awaiting hand.

The blade greatly resembled the Genji-Blade, starting off with a crimson red blade that formed into a t shape with a black edge, it's teeth made up of two Tomoe-Marks beside of the single spike on one side, a yin-yang was present at the center of the hilt, the handle was wrapped in black leather, the guard was somewhat circular as always however was made of miniature samurai armor at the upper portion and an upward pointing spike at the bottom, the chain of the blade was made from red Tomoe that ended with a simple yin-yang. (Genji-Key…)

'_**By blazes he has a Keyblade as well!'**_ Gilgamesh thought with shock before then watching the blond twisted the Genji-Key into a reverse grip and narrowed his eyes onto him. "Come forth, Neo-Shade!" He declared as the shadowy specter rose up behind him, its tail wrapping around his left arm before placing clawed a hand onto his right shoulder. _**'Maybe I was a bit hasty in wanting to fight his true power…'**_ Gilgamesh noted mostly to himself before feeling a sudden surge of energy, a wide grin forming under his helm / mask. _**'Oh who cares! Now we truly shall fight as men!'**_ The Screw-Loose warrior mentally declared while jumping up and lunging at the blond haired Seeker of Darkness…

(World that never wars…)

"Oi, this place is completely empty…" Zero grumbled as he followed behind Angela, more watching her hips and ass than paying attention to anything else.

"You mean besides Nobody's right?" Angela quipped before reaching up to palm her face at the "Huh?" her boyfriend had shot at her. "I swear, you've seen me in nothing so why are you staring at me like that?" Angela questioned pointedly and Zero reached up to rub the back of his neck for a moment.

"Don't know… I guess cause normally you're wearing a cape… and as they say, what's hidden is desired. Besides, can I help it your so sexy babe?" Zero replied with a "grin" seeing as he couldn't physically grin and Angela cleared her throat and felt a "Blush" form on her face. Even with the hundreds of flirtatious remarks and quips her boyfriend shot at her almost daily, she had never truly gotten used to any of them…

"You just love making me uncomfortable, don't you?" Angela questioned while Zero walked to her side and shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Maybe a little…" Zero replied before wrapping his arms around her and she leaned into his shoulder. "But I love holding you a lot more, Kara-Chan." He replied softly and the other Black-Soulless made a note to find this dimension's version of his Ex-Girlfriend and ask if she had any severe mental trauma to dump him for that black haired pretty boy. Behind them, Dante shook his head with a bit of amusement on his face. _'Ah, young Love.'_ He thought fondly, then turned serious as he walked over to the two with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Should we not continue forward my friends, our enemies shall not wait and your friend might be in trouble." Dante reminded and Zero turned stone serious as he nodded his head in agreement before walking forward, passed Angela who let out a breath.

"Thanks, I swear I love him to death… but it's like it's his personal mission in life to get me flustered." Angela noted more to herself than Dante, yet the scythe wielding man merely shook his head.

"Perhaps he does, but do you really care?" Dante questioned of her and Angela stopped and considered that for a moment before "Smiling" to herself.

"Honestly?" She asked and Dante silently nodded his head. "No, I really don't." She admitted as they walked up a staircase and entered into a room with several thrones all around it. "Okay… what is this place?" Angela questioned while walking to stand at Zero's side, the other Black-Soulless humming lightly as he looked over each of the thrones with a deep frown on his face.

"It sort of looks like a meeting chamber or something…" Dante noted while turning around and watched as Zero walked over to the highest throne, one that was in the center of all the others. "Do you see something my friend?" Dante questioned and Naruto silent placed a hand on the throne, a doorway forming from it when he did. Tilting his head to one side, Zero took a step forward before turning as Angela placed a hand onto his shoulder, her worry and concern for him clear even without a face.

"Na… Zero, be careful." Angela warned and her boyfriend nodded his head silently before walking through the door, both Angela and Dante following behind him. As they walked through, Zero felt a frown form as he saw a large room with numerous thorny vines formed along the outermost edges.

"Looks like someone is here…" The Black-Soulless noted mostly to himself before lifting an arm and blocking a bolt of dark-fire. Narrowing his eyes, the Black-Soulless spotted a familiar green skinned woman and chuckled under his throat. "Well what do ya' know, I was right." He grumbled out as the woman walked forward, staff in hand and Zero reached back and freed his swords.

"Who are you fools who dare to invade my castle?" The woman, Maleficent if Angela wasn't mistaken, questioned of them with a deep frown. In response to her query, Zero walked forward and looked over his shoulder to Angela and Dante.

"You guys hang back, I'll take care of the ol' wicked witch here." Zero offered with a slight wave, only for Maleficent to scoff as she glared at the Black-Soulless.

"Fool! You dare to challenge me, I am the Queen of all Darkness!" The woman declared and yet Zero mentally rolled his eyes while flipping his swords in his hands, trying to find a good feel for them.

"Queen of Darkness my ass, you just a sad lonely old witch with a lot of talk and no substance." The Black-Soulless retorted with a wave and Maleficent snarled while bringing the end of her staff down on the ground. Instantly a platform was raised out of the ground and she hovered in the air over the Black-Soulless.

"We shall see about that worm!" She declared loudly while sending a bolt of lightning flying towards Zero, only for him to lunge forward and dodge it with amazing speed before jumping up and kicking off of her platform. Quickly turning to follow the speedy Black-Soulless, Maleficent saw him jump high and lunge at her, thus quickly formed a ring of Lightning around herself. Cursing Zero impacted with the ring and was blown back by it, flipping in midair to land in a crouch. "Now suffer in infinite Darkness!" Maleficent declared as she formed a ball of ice and sent it flying towards the Black-Soulless.

"Jeez, c'mon old lady you're gonna have to do better than that!" Zero taunted as he jumped over the ice, only to grunt as it exploded into a dozen shards, one of them slamming into him from below. "Okay I take that back… that one wasn't so bad." Zero noted mostly to himself as he rolled to the side and then flipped back to his feet, evading a ball of Dark-Fire from the woman. "Still not in my league though." He noted with a smirk while vanishing in a burst of speed, Maleficent looking on in surprise, and then widening her eyes as he appeared behind her.

"You know… normally I prefer not to hit women unless they're Kunoichi or like a Metahuman or something similar… but for you, I'll make an exception." Zero decided while twisting into a kick that knocked the horned green skinned woman off of her platform. Flipping off of the platform as it fell into the ground with a crash, Zero then quickly lunged at the downed Maleficent.

"You worthless fool, do not think you can defeat me so easily!" Maleficent declared while raising her arms up, a ring of flames surrounding her. Cursing and sliding to a halt, Zero watched on as Maleficent then threw her arms forward, the ring expanding towards him. _'Oi, I've really got to learn to stop mouthing off before I win a fight…'_ Zero mentally decided while back flipping several times to evade the ring of fire and then landed in a low crouch, Maleficent scowling as he remained unharmed. _'Eh, then again, that's half the fun!'_ Zero mentally declared with a grin working its way across his face as he blurred into movement once more.

"I won't be defeated by a fool like you!" Maleficent declared as she swung her staff, causing numerous thorny vines to shoot out of the floor and start to twist around the room in an attempt to catch him. Flipping around and from the many vines, Zero grinned as he threw his arms downwards, thorny razor chains made out of light ripping from his back to wrap around the vines. Landing on one of the chains, Zero whooped as he began to ride on it, sliding along the length of the chain before laughing as he jumped off of it and lunged at Maleficent with his sword drawn.

"C'mon! This is way too easy! At least give me a work out!" Zero exclaimed while swinging his blade with a wide grin, an arc of darkness flying towards a shocked and surprised Maleficent. _'This creature has powers of both Light __**and**__ Darkness!'_ She realized in shock before scowling as she vanished in a flash of green and black fire. Landing with a blink, Zero then looked around for the woman before recalling his many chains, all of them vanishing into his back as he did. "Now where did you go…?" He mumbled quietly and then turned in time for a blast of darkness to slam into the side of his face, Maleficent smirking down at him as he held his mask.

"You pathetic retch! You think to walk into my castle and challenge me? The Mistress of all Evil without consequence?" Maleficent demanded quite loudly, Zero silent as black wisps of Darkness formed at his left hand as he continued to hold his face. "Ha! You will pay for such arrogance with your life!" The green skinned woman declared loudly while throwing up her arms, green and black flames swirling around her. Frowning, or doing what came closest to it, Zero rose back to his feet as a massive clawed hand reached out of the flames, followed by another, then a long tail with purple spines, and finally a pair of enormous wings.

"No… you're the arrogant one." Zero muttered even as a dragon's head came from the flames before spinning in place, the flames shooting outwards. Frowning darkly, Zero jumped high into the air to evade the flames then landed on the ground in a low kneeling position. Roaring loudly, the dragon reared its head back before then launching a blast of fire towards the Black-Soulless… **"Shinra Tensei! (Heavenly Subjugation of The Omnipresent God!)"** He then declared while holding his hands forward, a shield of translucent energy forming around him to block all of the fire. The Dragon's fire soon stopped and it looked on in shock as Zero then blurred into movement, all but teleporting as he appeared before her.

"Cause you really shouldn't have broken my mask." Zero intoned darkly, the Dragon snarling as it brought a claw down on him, only to widen its yellow eyes as the Black-Soulless held her claw up with one hand effortlessly. Looking on closer, The Dragon then noticed that the left side of his "Mask" had been broken, the Y shaped cross on his mask now missing one of its arms. Wisps of darkness twisted and flailed from the open "wound" while mere seconds later, an eye opened up. The eye was a purple-grey color with a dilated pupil and ripple like pattern extending outwards from it. "For when you broke my mask, you left my soul bear, revealing my true power." The Black Soulless noted calmly before holding his free hand towards her.

"**Shinra Tensei."** He intoned darkly, the dragon being sent flying back into a wall where it smashed into it with a resounding crash. The dust and dirt soon settled and the Dragon snarled, sending out a wave of fire towards Zero. However the Black-Soulless walked forward confidently, holding a hand at his side he conjured white flames before throwing a wave of them forward to counteract the green and black ones. **"Shiranui! (Unknown-Fire!)"** He declared as he own flames not only stopped the black and green flames but snuffed them out as well. Snarling, the dragon roared loudly before jumping up and coming down on top of the Black-Soulless. However he then reached up and broke off the second arm of his Y shaped mask, bearing his other eye to view…

"**Bansho-Ten'in! (Heavenly Attraction of All Creation!)"** The Black Soulless declared while holding out his arms and spinning in place, the entire area loosing all sense of gravity as the Black-Dragon was now floating in midair, yellow eyes wide. Quickly shaking that off, the Dragon sent another blast of fire at the Black-Soulles who merely tilted his head. **"Gakido: Fuujutsu Kyuin! (Preta-Path: Blocking Technique Absorption Seal!)"** The Black-Soulless declared while raising his arms up, forming a protective barrier around himself that seemed to absorb the Black and Green flames into itself. Looking on in a mix of shock and awe, the Dragon then watched as the Black Soulless narrowed its eyes on her dangerously.

"**Shurado! (Asura-Path!)"** He stated as a pair of mechanical arms shot out of his back and formed into a pair of strange cannons. Crouching down silently, the Cannons sparked violently at first before shooting out two enormous bolts of energy that slammed into the dragon knocking it back into a wall where it fell to the ground with a loud thud. Cracking his neck, Zero then stood back up as the arms on his back fell away and broke into dozens of pieces. Meanwhile, Dante merely watched on with wide eyes, Angela shaking her head.

"He can be such a show-off at times…" Angela noted mostly to herself and Dante shot her a look of shock.

"Y-You mean this… he could do all this before he was ever a Soulles!" The man demanded and Angela let out a soft sigh before slowly nodding her head with a bored body posture.

"Yeah, he figured out a few of those tricks while me, him, and Jill were hanging out on an island, but something tells me he's going to finish this with the one I find the ability that I can't help but find the creepiest." Angela noted even while watching her boyfriend stalk towards Maleficent, the Dragon snarling as it lashed out to bite into him. Frowning, the Black Soulless jumped back and the held up a hand, an enormous swirling sphere of energy with several smaller ones spinning around it forming into his hand. "That one on the other hand, I've never seen before…" Angela stated, as she watched Zero jump into the air before bringing the enormous ball down onto the dragon.

"**Wakusei Rasengan! (Planetary Swirling Sphere!)"** He declared as he slammed the attack into the dragon, causing the random swirling of the balls around the large one to spin around while slamming into the beast. The attacking creating a cone-shaped vortex that didn't stop until it slammed into a wall, The Dragon falling down before catching on fire. Walking forward, Zero saw Maleficent panting and on her knees, looking up the green skinned woman backpedaled with wide eyes.

"Stay back!" She warned while sending a ball of lightning at the Black Soulless, but he silently batted it away while holding his right hand at his side.

"Miss Angela, you mentioned his "Creepiest" technique would be used to finish her off… but, what is it?" Dante questioned of the other Black-Soulless as Zero placed a foot onto Maleficent's chest to hold her down.

"It's called the Human-Path and it steals the soul of its victim. At first he wouldn't use it, it scared him to think he could just pull the soul of a person out of their body. But he's used it on one occasion before now, but with his soul laid bare, he can't hold himself back." She replied and Dante looking to the other Black Soulless with wide eyes before looking back to Zero as he placed a hand onto the woman's head.

"**Ningendo! (Human-Path!)"** The Black-Soulless intoned darkly before yanking his hand back and removing the soul from Maleficent. Taking a step back, Zero then watched as Maleficent's body faded into the darkness before throwing her Soul to the side. Instantly a black-vortex formed where it was floating and then a female Black-Soulless fell to the ground.

The Soulless has a black suit, silver upside-down crosses on her chest and mask, a Cross Moline on either of her thighs, all of the crosses were bolted down as per usual, only with a Semi-circle forming mock-horns from the back of its head, a belt wrapped into an X across its waist with two upside-down crosses for buckles with a skirt of white cloth with black borders falling from it with a slit up the front, a long white segmented "Loincloth" falling between the slit made like multiple upside-down crosses, thigh length high-heeled silver segmented boots, a pair of silver bands around her biceps with upside-down crosses on them, long white sleeves falling from them, segmented metal claws over her fingers, and a metal-staff with a black gem in the top. (Black-Soulless: Witch…)

"You can make more Black-Soulless?" Angela questioned while walking over to her Boyfriend and he reached up to his mask. Running his fingers from the broken section of his mask he reformed the arms, fixing his mask and hiding his eyes once more before letting out a relieved sigh.

"Yeah… it's kind of freaky when I do though… the Soulless that captured me wanted to experiment on me to figure out how I do it…" Zero admitted while flexing his free hand as Angela walked over to the Black-Soulless and poked her in the head.

"She isn't moving much…" Angela noted while still poking her in the head and Zero shrugged his shoulders once more.

"It'll take a bit for her to, for now, let's get going, I don't think there's anything else for us here." Zero noted mostly to himself before looking over to Dante with his arms crossed over his chest. "Hey, could you carry her?" Zero questioned and Dante slowly nodded his head while watching the Soulless-Infidel warily. "Great, then lets get going." Zero urged while opening a Dark-Corridor, Angela following him as he walked in, and was followed by Dante with the Soulless-Witch thrown over his shoulder. And meanwhile, from the shadows a familiar creature watched on before giggling to itself as it followed after them as well…

(Radiant Garden…)

Gilgamesh and Naruto were holding one another back with their blades before each shoved the other back. Sliding back for a distance, Gilgamesh then used his Naginata to slow himself down before narrowing his eyes as Naruto slid to a halt, the Neo-Shade narrowing its eyes on him. _**'He's stronger than I thought, but if we keep this up for much longer, his allies will interfere with out battle and he'll start holding back again!'**_ Gilgamesh thought to himself before lunging forward while forming his blades into all of his arms. _**'Time for a sword-dance!'**_ Gilgamesh mentally declared while spinning forward towards Naruto and then wildly swinging his blades into the disguised Seeker of Darkness.

Finishing off with a kick, Gilgamesh sent the blond flying back into a wall with a grin under his helm / mask. However The Neo-Shade then came out of the wall and lunged at him, chains of darkness shooting out of its back and directly at him. Jumping back, Gilgamesh twisted and weaved around the chains before using his Massamune and stabbing the blade through several of the chain links. Blinking in surprise, The Neo-Shade was then yanked by Gilgamesh as he slammed her into the walls of the gorge several times before the Screw-Loose warrior jumped up and threw her back to where Naruto had impacted with the wall.

Extending her claws and digging them into the ground, The Neo-Shade managed to slow herself before she would've impacted. When she did, Naruto took a step out of the wall and stumbled forward, Darkness wafting off of his body. Frowning deeply, Gilgamesh twirled his Naginata in hand and then growled towards the blond haired Seeker of Darkness. **"Come now ya' sniveling worm! I want you to really show me your power!"** The Screw-Loose warrior declared and Naruto looked up, his azure blue eyes having changed to a dark amber-gold. Holding out his hands to either side, the blond then raised them into the air, the shadows around them suddenly shooting up around them as massive walls.

Bringing his hands together over his head, the walls formed into a large dome and Gilgamesh blinked in surprise. _**'Well I guess that solves the problem of the others interfering with our duel…'**_ Gilgamesh noted to himself and then watched as Naruto cracked his neck before twirling the Genji-Blade and Genji-Key in his hands. Catching them in a reverse grip, the blond then kicked off of the ground, The Neo-Shade following him and returning to its place behind him. Raising one hand, Naruto mentally smirked as all of his Keyblades formed a ring around his body, Gilgamesh gaping at the sight before a giddy grin appeared.

"**With you already wielding so many Keyblades certainly one will choose me as its owner!"** He declared only to watch as one of the Keyblades, No-Heart, suddenly shot to Naruto's back and formed into a pair of wings. Blinking for several moments Gilgamesh then watched Naruto sent his hand forward as if pointing it at the Screw-Loose warrior. Instantly the other Keyblades twisted and twirled around one another in a mock-tornado before heading straight for the Eight-Armed Behemoth. Cursing under his breath, Gilgamesh jumped over the Keyblades before flipping in the air to fly, his eyes narrowing on Naruto as he did.

'_**Seems as if he's finally become serious about this battle.'**_ Gilgamesh noted to himself before grinning as he lunged at the blond haired Seeker of Darkness. Naruto himself merely smirked as he flapped his false wings and was propelled directly at the Screw-Loose warrior. The two clashed once more, Gilgamesh stopping a swing of Naruto's sword and swinging several at the blond. However the teen quickly flapped his wings to back away before forming a ball of dark-fire into his hand. Twisting in the air, the blond haired youth sent it flying into Gilgamesh's chest, knocking the screw-loose warrior back into an aerial roll.

Shaking his head when he came out of it, Gilgamesh scowled towards Naruto before cursing as his blades tore their way through the walls of the gorge and came right at him. Moving out of the way, Gilgamesh then watched Naruto hold the Genji-Key towards where the Keyblade-Storm had went and he mentally groaned as the blond haired Seeker of Darkness actually directed the keys to head back towards him. _**'He's not like the "Heroes" I've fought who have mostly generic skills, he's more like a "Boss" or something!'**_ Gilgamesh thought while mainly referring to the often more powerful than normal "villains" he'd helped heroes battle against over the years of traveling through the Void.

Shaking that off, Gilgamesh dodged the keyblade-storm once more before lunging at Naruto in a vertical-spin with his blades drawn. The young Seeker of Darkness easily evaded the attack and The Neo-Shade formed a ball of dark energy into its hand before hurling it at the Screw-Loose warrior. Turning in time to see it, but not in time to dodge, Gilgamesh was propelled from the air into the ground below. Grunting for a moment, the Screw-Loose warrior picked himself up and glared towards the blond Seeker of Darkness where he was still hovering overhead. _**'Hmm, I shouldn't play around anymore.'**_ The Screw-Loose warrior noted to himself while flipping onto his feet and then kicking off of the ground and up after the blond haired youth.

Dodging around the Keyblade-Storm as it came at him again, Gilgamesh connected his blades with Naruto's own and they locked together. **"Heh! This is actually a good duel! I haven't enjoyed myself this much since my last duel with my Chosen Rival, Bartz!"** The Screw-Loose warrior noted with a grin on under his helmet / mask and yet Naruto was silent as he twisted in the air and kicked the Eight-Armed Behemoth back before forming a large ball of Dark-Fire at the end of his Genji-Key. Swinging his blade, the teen sent a long arc of Dark-Fire flying towards Gilgamesh, only for him to smirk and block the attack with his Zantetsuken. Grinning widely, Gilgamesh then lunged at the blond haired youth once more, only for him to dodge and weave around the many swipes and swings of his sword.

"**You're being awfully quiet. What's the matter? Speechless in the presence of such an amazing swordsman like myself?"** Gilgamesh taunted with a grin only to grunt as Naruto kneed him in the gut and let out a breath. Looking up into Gilgamesh's eyes the blond then twisted into a kick to his head, sending the Screw-Loose Warrior flying back.

"No… you just talk enough for the both of us." Naruto replied quite curtly while crossing his arms over his chest, The Neo-Shade nodding in agreement with him. Pushing himself out of the hole he'd made on impact, Gilgamesh frowned up towards the blond haired youth for a moment, before grinning widely as he shot up at him.

"**Haste!"** He declared as a clock appeared behind him and seemed to speed up, Naruto blinking and raising a brow. However he then widened his eyes as Gilgamesh vanished from sight while slamming a fist into his gut. **"If I talk too much, then allow me to speed things up so you wont have to listen to me!"** The Screw-Loose Warrior declared while bringing a fist down on top of Naruto, sending him flying down to impact with the ground before blurring into motion once more. Groaning while pushing himself up, Naruto looked around for Gilgamesh only for the Screw-Loose Warrior to connect a foot with the side of his face and send him skidding back.

Not relenting, Gilgamesh lunged after the blond haired youth with a wide grin as he proceeded to slash the blond with his weapons rapidly. Finishing it all off, Gilgamesh raised two of his fists before slamming them down on top of the blond's head. Naruto was propelled downwards where he then impacted with the ground with an explosion of force, Gilgamesh laughing loudly when he did. **"Not so tough now are you gaki?"** The Screw-Loose warrior questioned with a grin, only to stop and frown as Naruto pulled himself out of the hole and darkness began to cover his body. Soon enough he was in his White-Seeker armor and glaring up towards Gilgamesh angrily.

"_We shall see about that, Gilgamesh."_ The White-Seeker noted darkly before vanishing in a flash of Darkness. Looking around for the blond haired teen, Gilgamesh scowled when he couldn't see him anywhere.

"**What the… tell me he didn't run away!"** Gilgamesh shouted only to yelp as Naruto appeared behind him, The Neo-Shade reaching out and getting him in a headlock. Gritting his teeth and trying to look back, Gilgamesh found Naruto appearing before him, arms crossed over his chest with No-Heart still on his back. Holding out his arms a second later, Naruto formed Void-Gear and Lost-Memory into his hands, Gilgamesh grimacing as he realized his position. **"This is gonna hurt, isn't it?"** The Eight-armed behemoth stated more than questioned, only for Naruto to form a pair of gauntlets out of the two keyblades, surprising and exciting Gilgamesh at the same time.

"_Would you please shut up."_ Naruto grumbled while rearing his Void-Gear gauntlet back, before throwing it forward to impact with Gilgamesh's face. Forming into a mist, The Neo-Shade allowed the force of the attack to send Gilgamesh flying into the wall behind him. Grunting, Gilgamesh pushed himself loose once more and rubbed the back of his neck while The Neo-Shade reformed behind Naruto. Spitting some blood to the side, Gilgamesh then grinned while reforming his weapons and lunging at the blond haired Seeker of Darkness.

"**Haste!"** He declared and the clock appeared behind him as he sped up once more, only to blink as Naruto dropped into the shadows around them. Looking around for the blond, Gilgamesh was unprepared for the Keyblade storm to form out of the wall of the gorge, Naruto riding on the mass of them. Forming the Genji-Key into his hand while allowing Void-Gear, No-Heart, and Lost-Memory to reform into the Keyblade storm, Naruto lunged along the keys before jumping at Gilgamesh with a roar. Gritting his teeth, Gilgamesh used one of his blades to block Naruto's swing, only to scream in pain as the other Keyblades proceeded to pound into him, driving him into the ground. Flipping back, Naruto stayed in a low crouch while gazing towards the downed Gilgamesh, only to grunt as the Eight-Armed Behemoth got up once more.

'_**Urgh… that last one really hurt.'**_ Gilgamesh thought while reaching to his shoulder, two of his eight-arms hanging limply from his back. _**'This kid is a hell of a lot stronger than I thought he'd be.'**_ Gilgamesh added while gazing towards the White-Seeker before chuckling under his breath for a moment and then outright laughing. **"Yes! This is the thrill of battle! This is a fine duel!"** The Screw-Loose warrior declared before forming six blades into the arms that actually still worked. **"Come then, let us continue!"** Gilgamesh declared loudly and yet Naruto merely blinked while staring at the Eight-Armed Behemoth, his entire body seeming… transparent for some reason.

"_Uh… I think you're like… fading out or something."_ Naruto noted while pointing to the Screw-Loose Warrior, Gilgamesh scoffing as he glared at the blond haired Seeker with his arms crossed.

"**Do you think I'll fall for such a worthless trick!"** He demanded only for Naruto to shake his head and give him an annoyed look.

"_No, seriously look at yourself!"_ The blond teen urged and Gilgamesh blinked before looking down at himself and widened his eyes. Beneath him was a circular patch of black energy, normally Naruto would've thought it was Darkness but it didn't have the same smell that a Dark-Corridor did.

"**Oh no not again! Is the Rift pulling me back in!"** Gilgamesh demanded while holding out his arms and legs to try to keep from falling into the strange circle of black underneath him. **"No… not again! I'm not going back there!"** Gilgamesh declared while pulling himself out of the strange portal, only for it to start pulling him back in even faster than before. **"Stop! Wait!"** Gilgamesh pleaded overdramatically as he fought against the pull of the Portal. **"I beg you!"** Gilgamesh exclaimed as he fell into the portal, Naruto blinking and scratching his head as the strange portal sealed up. **"I shall return!"** Gilgamesh voice echoed out as the portal vanished entirely, the blond shaking his head as he did.

"_What a freak…"_ Naruto decided while taking a deep breath, his White-Seeker armor vanishing along with the Neo-Shade. Dismissing his Keyblades as well, Naruto leaned his Genji-Blade into his shoulder before looking up at the dome of darkness around him with a frown. _'Time to dismiss that as well…'_ The blond haired youth decided while snapping his fingers, the dome fading away. "Now to get back up there." Naruto decided while walking towards the wall of the gorge, only to stop and look up when he heard a yelp. However the blond then grunted loudly as Aqua landed on top of him and both fell into a heap.

"Oh… I'm not jumping into a gorge like that again…" She decided while reaching up to her head while sitting on top of the blond haired teen.

"I concur…" The blond haired teen noted from below her, Aqua blushing as she looked down to see whom she was sitting on. "But could you please get off me?" The blond haired youth questioned with a frown and Aqua yelped before quickly leaping off of him. Blushing and grinning nervously, the blue haired girl got up and brushed herself off before offering a hand to Naruto.

"Need a hand?" She asked him nervously and Naruto rolled his eyes before taking the offered limb with a smirk. Helping the blond rise to his feet, Aqua then cleared her throat and looked away from him as he leaned the Genji-Blade into his shoulder again.

"So why did you feel the need to jump down here?" Naruto questioned and Aqua turned and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Well, I sensed some Darkness being used down here and I thought you might be in trouble so…" She started to say before Naruto smirked and decided to take a guess.

"So you decided you'd come help me, but that dark dome kept you from reaching the battle." The blond haired youth noted with his head tilted to look at the bluenette and she folded her arms behind her back while turning away from him. Fidgeting nervously she then turned back around, and briefly wondered why she was so nervous around the masked Ninja.

"Well yeah… and I'm sorry that I wasn't any help." Aqua said with a slight bow and Naruto merely waved it off before looking up. Reaching up to rub his chin for a moment, the blond haired youth the grinned as he placed the Genji-Blade to his back, the sword hanging onto a magnet at the plate at the back of his armor. Walking over to Aqua the blond haired youth then picked her up bridal style, the girl blushing as he did. "W-What are you doing?" She questioned while Naruto merely smirked and crouched down.

"Getting us out of here." He finally replied before lunging at the wall of the gorge and then jumped up and started to jump and flip up the many rocks on it. Leaping from rock to rock, the disguised blond soon jumped high out of the gorge. Doing a flip in the air, Naruto then landed beside of the bridge over the gorge and looked to Aqua who was holding onto him tightly. "You can let go now…" Naruto noted and Aqua opened a single eye before nodding her head as he let her down and took a step back. However when the two turned, they found an amused look on Yuffie's face, thus causing Naruto slapped his face with a frown.

'_She's never going to let Aqua hear the end of this…'_ Naruto realized while Yuffie sidled over to the bluenette, whom was having similar thoughts about the dark haired girl.

"So Aqua, what was that about Shadow needing our help?" The girl questioned of her with amusement, Naruto grunting as he crossed his arms over his chest. Aqua merely looked away from Yuffie at the question, while Naruto looked to the side a Sakura and the others walked over to them.

"So where did that freak go?" Sakura questioned of Naruto and the disguised blond shrugged his shoulders.

"No clue." He replied and Kakashi let out a light hum while looking around and then placed his hands into his pockets.

"Well with him gone I'd say it's safe to say that this way is clear. So we should probably head back to Radiant Garden now." Kakashi reasoned and the others nodded their heads, only to turn when Shadow didn't move. Walking over to the disguised blond, Aqua tilted her head while looking at him.

"You coming Shadow?" She asked and the blue-eyed ninja shook his head.

"Sorry, but this is where we part ways… until we meet again." Naruto replied before suddenly vanishing into a blur of motion, Aqua looking around for where he went while Yuffie huffed. _'He took the stuff I grabbed from that Gilgamesh freak too! URGH! And I just bet it was really valuable as well!'_ The Ninja-Girl thought while all but grinding her teeth while turning around and stomping off.

"Good riddance! Who needs that stupid over priced asshole anyways!" She declared and Sasuke chuckled while following after her, Sakura shaking her head as she followed behind him. As they did Kakashi and Aqua stayed where they were, silently looking to where Naruto had been only a moment ago. Walking forward, Kakashi touched Aqua's shoulder and the Bluenette turned to look at him as he nudged in the direction Yuffie was heading with the others.

"C'mon, Ansem is probably waiting for us back at the castle." Kakashi noted and Aqua opened her mouth to say something, before frowning and nodding her head in agreement as she followed him. She turned her head to where Naruto had been for only a moment before turning back around and running after Sakura and the others. Reaching into his pouch, Kakashi pulled out his little orange book and smirked slightly to himself as he also pulled a pen from his pouch and started to write in the margins. _'I wonder if maybe I could write a book of my own…'_ Kakashi wondered while jotting down a few ideas for a story based on inspiration he was getting from these new worlds…

TBC…

AN:

Naruto's Keyblade's…

Dark-Heart…

Soul-Blade…

Void-Gear…

Vorpal-Key…

One-Winged-Angel…

No-Heart…

Lost-Memory…

Genji-Key (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Other Weapons:

Silver-Short-sword…

Silver Throwing Knives…

Blitz (Demonic-Shotgun)…

Gloria (Demonic Knife)…

Genji-Blade (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Glove (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Shield (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Helm (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Armor (Ninja / Samurai Only)…


	41. Shadow Pt 3

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 40**_: _**Shadow Pt. 3**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(Radiant Garden…)

Tidus opened his eyes and blinked for a moment before reaching up to rub at the back of his head. "Where…?" He questioned before his eyes opened and he scowled deeply and flipped up to his feet. "Don't tell me he…" He started to say before turning around to see Jecht was standing with his back to him, staring down from The Dark Depths towards The Villains Vale. Walking towards the man, Tidus didn't notice Yuna waking up and yawning on the ground. Blinking her eyes open, the tiny faerie flew into the air and followed behind the blond haired boy as he approached his father. Hearing the teen heading his way, Jecht smirked to himself and turned around to face him while digging the tip of his sword into the ground.

"Hey." He offered with a wave and Tidus crossed his arms while looking at his "Old Man" with a deep frown.

"What are you still doing here?" Tidus questioned with narrowed eyes and Jecht scowled deeply while gazing at his son.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Jecht questioned before reaching a hand up to rub at his shoulder while leaning forward, his foot on his blade. "Do you really think I'd ever run away from a runt like you?" Jecht questioned pointedly of the blond haired teen and Tidus scowled deeply while giving him a look.

"You ran from mom and me before…" He reminded and Jecht scowled deeply while bringing his foot back down and glaring at his son sternly.

"That was a low blow, boy." Jecht stated seriously, and then reached up and rubbed his shoulder with a deep frown. "But, it looks like we've still got some… unfinished business." Jecht noted mostly to himself and Tidus frowned while raising a brow and glaring at his father.

"What does that mean?" Tidus questioned of his old man and a grin crossed Jecht's features as he rolled his shoulder in its socket for a moment then leaned forward on his sword.

"Didn't you learn anything? A real ace fights until the very end!" He declared and then punched his fist into his free hand with a wide grin. "And we just hit Over Time!" The man declared and Tidus smirked while forming his water-sword into his hands and bounced on his heels before taking a stance.

"Well then…" The blond mused while Jecht reached to his side and lifted his sword onto his shoulders.

"Where did we leave off?" Jecht wondered aloud even as red and black flames surrounded his body, Tidus' eyes widening as he then threw his sword into the air and flipped back before falling off the edge of the cliff and into the Dark Depths.

"What is he…?" Tidus started to wonder before flipping back as Jecht's sword impacted with the ground, only it had grown from its original size into a monstrously oversized blade with visible etchings on it. "Whoa! What the?" Tidus started to question before hearing a groan and turned to see a massive scaly hand reach out of The Dark Depths, before it was followed by a very familiar looking creature. "No way… Old Man!" Tidus demanded as the creature groaned lightly while rising to its full height, easily towering over the now diminutive form of Tidus.

The beast appeared to be Jecht, however it had brown scaly skin with the tattoo on Jecht's torso now white, the scales on its left arm are thicker than normal and its clawed hand is tipped with sharp orange nails, a tentacle wraps around it's neck, while it's long spiky white hair spills down its back, its face is covered by a white beard, and like Jecht it wears a red headband that obscures one of its eyes, said eyes being a brilliant and glowing violet, however it also has numerous spikes jutting out of its shoulders, a large black collar of sorts around the back of it's neck and head, and thin yet intricate black armor around its waist that faded into numerous large scales that replace his skirt.

"Old man… what happened to you?" Tidus whispered quietly while backing up from the beast that had once been his father. Gritting his teeth and shaking in rage, Tidus then glared up at his Old Man furiously. "So what? You think you can beat me by turning into a Monster?" Tidus demanded of the beast that had once been Jecht before watching it smirk as it swung an arm down at him. "Well think again old man! I'll bring you down no matter how big you get!" Tidus roared while flipping back, narrowly getting out of the way of Jecht's arm, Yuna clinging to his shoulder with wide eyes.

"T-Tidus please! You should get out of here! Sir-Jecht is amazingly powerful in this form!" Yuna warned and yet the blond haired youth merely smirked while looking to Jecht as he slowly lifted his arm back up. Flipping his blade in his hands, Tidus then raised a hand, casting a quick Haste on himself and bouncing on his feet.

"He may be big and tough, but he's real slow in this form!" Tidus declared while lunging forward quickly, Yuna barely managing to hold on as he did so. Growling darkly, Jecht swung his arm with surprising quickness, only for Tidus to jump over it and hitch a ride on his arm. Lunging up the length of Jecht's arm, Tidus had to sprint several times to avoid Jecht's hand as he tried to catch him. Jumping off of Jecht's arm, Tidus then flipped into a downward-kick that impacted with Jecht's face. "Now take this!" Tidus roared out while forming a ball of light that exploded in Jecht's face, propelling Tidus back while the behemoth fell back.

Catching himself, Jecht seemed to scowl slightly as he then pushed himself back up, energy gathering at his left eye. A mere second later a beam of energy shot from Jecht's eye and towards a surprised Tidus. Widening his eyes, the blond lunged out of the way only to be sent sprawling forward as the attack detonated behind him. Groaning in his throat, Tidus looked back to see Jecht turn and grab into the side of the Dark Depths. Widening his eyes, the blond haired youth watched in stunned silence as Jecht ripped out a massive chunk of earth and held it up over his head effortlessly. Grinning darkly, Jecht then roared as he threw the massive ball of earth directly for his blond haired son. Pushing himself up, Tidus lunged across the way, only to slide to a stop at the wall of The Dark Depths and turn to see the approaching boulder.

'_This is really gonna hurt…'_ He thought to himself before blinking as something got between him and the massive ball of earth. The object exploded outwards a second later, Tidus holding up his arms before blinking when he saw a man in red between him and his father. "I think these odds are a bit too unfair… so I'll intervene in the boys favor." The man stated while looking up at Jecht through his sunglasses, and then smirked when he saw a frown on his face. "Besides, didn't you always want a rematch?" Auron questioned and a grin crossed Jecht's features as he spread out his arms and then let out a mighty roar.

"Who… what…?" Tidus questioned intelligently and Auron turned to him and gazed at him from the corner of his eye.

"My name is Auron, and it looks like I'm your new Guardian." Auron noted before opening his jacket enough to allow his limp arm to come free, clearly nothing wrong with the limb as he crouched into a stance.

"I don't need any help taking down my old man!" Tidus growled while flipping onto his feet and Auron smirked lightly while shaking his head.

"Ah youth, as impetuous as always… but I'm afraid that this is no time for games." Auron stated simply as he then glared up at Jecht as he roared once more and slammed his fist into his open palm with a wide grin. "This is a fight for survival, once Jecht gets started like this, there's no holding back for him, this is the real deal, if you lose here, you die… and would you really want to be the cause of your mother crying?" Auron questioned seriously while gazing at Tidus from the corner of his eye and the blond haired youth winced before shaking his head.

"Alright then!" He stated while slapping his face and getting back into a stance with his blade. "Lets do this!" Tidus declared while lunging forward, Auron rolling his eyes before falling after the blond as they both charged at a grinning Jecht…

(Twilight Town…)

Relm silently walks beside of Strago, Interceptor, and Setzer, in search of the boy known as Seifer, so they could find someone named Hayner, and then possibly get some information on her brother, Ventus. _'Does it really even matter if we find him, when I've never met him before.'_ Relm wondered to herself as she saw no reason in looking for her older brother, save that Strago wanted to find him. _'My last living blood relative…'_ She thought to herself and then reached up to rub at her arms with a soft sigh, wondering why that made her feel bad. Sure she knew her mother was dead, her father had disappeared long ago… but she never knew her Brother…

"So where is this Hayner at exactly, Setzer?" Strago questioned of the scarred man with a rather pointed look. The said Ex-Sky-Pirate merely smirked while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't worry, we'll eventually spot him running around…" The man started to say before stopping and frowning as he saw someone approaching them. Following his gaze, Relm, Strago, and Interceptor saw a young man humming a tune with a nightstick leaning on his shoulder. The young man looks somewhat lanky with long spiky blood red hair in a long ponytail, a pair of goggles pushed up to his forehead to hold his bangs out of his eyes, symmetrical red marks on his cheekbones, and fair skin. He wears a white untucked dress shirt, a black unbuttoned suit jacket, black pants, and simple black boots.

"Hey, so what do we have here?" The red head wondered while reaching up to scratch at his head with an amused look on his face. Relm took a step back with her eyes narrowed on the strange redhead, noticing he had a cool and lazy gaze, however the weapon on his shoulder seemed to be real, and from the strange metal prong at the tip of it, it wasn't _**just**_ a nightstick. _'Who is this guy?'_ Relm wondered with a frown as she glared at the red haired teen, Setzer crossing his arms as he looked at the younger man.

"I'm Setzer, Struggle Champion and I'm looking for a boy by the name of Hayner." Setzer replied and the red haired teen clicked his tongue for a brief moment while turning around.

"Really eh… well that's too bad." The red head noted more to himself than anyone as he turned on his heel to look at them with a grin. "Cause our boss told us that we haf'ta to get rid of any competition in town. And it just happens that your little buddy Hayner is some competition." The red head then stated while pointing his Nightstick towards the group and a deep frown crossed Setzer's face.

"So it's a gang war then?" Setzer questioned and Relm pulled her sketchpad out with narrowed eyes onto the red head. Said redhead merely shrugged his shoulders for a moment before leaning his weapon into his shoulder, his free hand in his pocket.

"Meh, more or less." He replied with a smirk on his face and Setzer pulled a pair of cards out of his jacket and threw them at the red head. However, the red head lunged forward with surprising speed and swung his nightstick at the man. However Strago quickly used his staff to block the nightstick and the redhead smirked as he slid back and then rose back to his full height.

"Well sorry, but we have an interest in young Hayner, so we won't allow you to do him harm!" The old man declared and the redhead rolled his eyes before reaching up to fan his mouth as he let out a yawn then smacked his lips.

"Old man, let me tell you somethin' right now. No one gets in the way of Reno of The Turks…" The redhead stated in a dangerously serious tone, Setzer frowning as he glared at the now named "Reno" of The Turks.

"I've never heard of any… _**Turks**_ in Twilight Town before." Setzer noted aloud and Reno nodded his head while lightly tapping his nightstick into his shoulder.

"Yeah we're new in town, just got here so to speak…" Reno replied while lightly bobbing his head and then slumped his shoulders and fanned his mouth as he yawned yet again. "Anyways, just lookin' at you guys is makin' me sober. So I think I'm gonna beat it while the gettin's good…" Reno mused aloud while waving off the group with one hand, then turned on his heel and started to walk.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Relm demanded of the redhead and he turned his head to look at the girl and frowned lightly.

"A pro isn't someone who sacrifices himself for his job. That's just a fool." Reno stated simply, and then saw a confused look on Relm and Strago's faces, Setzer nodding his head in agreement with the redhead.

"Ah, finally someone who makes sense!" Setzer declared with a slight smirk on his face and got a glare from Strago and Relm. "What? He may be a little weird, but he's still right…" Setzer stated while crossing his arms, Strago letting out a breath before looking to Reno warily.

"What did you mean by that?" Strago questioned and Reno reached up and scratched at his head for a moment.

"Well… it's just that we're off duty!" He replied with a slight grin as he then waited for them to leave, and then palmed his face when they remained. Feeling his brow twitch, the redhead then growled in his throat while glaring at the group. "Go away! I don't want to talk to you anymore." He stated, before turning on his heel and walking away from the group with a deep frown on his face. _'Man, now I need ta go find Rude so we can tell the boss about these guys.'_ The redhead thought to himself with a shake of his head, as he had really been looking forward to some R&R. _'Then again, I guess that can wait just a bit…'_ He then decided as he walked away with a smirk, Strago, Relm and Setzer all watched on as he turned and disappeared down a corner.

"This will make finding Hayner more troublesome… with those Turks about, they'll be in hiding, or they might even get into fights with one another." Strago noted aloud and Setzer nodded his head with a frown on his face.

"Personally, I'm not really into the idea of Twilight Town being engulfed by a Gang War, least of all if those Turks actually manage to win, we should find either Hayner or Seifer and offer our assistance in getting rid of The Turks. Just from looking at that Reno boy, they seem like the most shady of them all." Setzer noted aloud and Relm blew into her bangs before looking at the man flatly.

"Then we should team up with Hayner, he's the one we're looking for right?" Relm reminded and Strago let out a light hum while stroking his mustache and then looking to Setzer.

"What of Seifer, is he trustworthy?" Strago asked the scarred man, Setzer rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he thought about it.

"Seifer is hard headed and part of the Discipline Squad, their leader actually. As far as I know, he's… somewhat hard headed, after he decides something about you that opinion never really changes. However what he lacks in people skills, he and his group make up in actually combat ability, all of his subordinates, Fuu, Rai, and Vivi can actually fight and hold their own. Out of Hayner's group, only Hayner himself is a competent combatant and managed to beat Seifer in combat." Setzer replied thoughtfully and Strago nodded his head, seeing that in a tactical sense, Seifer was a better choice, but that Hayner's group needed help more…

"We should help Hayner, he has friends those Turks might attempt to kidnap and use as a way to control him." Strago decided and Setzer nodded his head in agreement with the old man before they all walked off down the streets of Twilight town in search of their original target…

(Radiant Garden…)

Naruto sits in a seat in a bar at the far corner of Radiant Garden called the "7th Heaven" for some reason. Not many in town knew about the bar beyond drunks, a few lowlifes would come by, and even more perverts who wanted to gawk at the bartender, yet it was still said that The 7th Heaven was always packed. Speaking of the bartender she was a beautiful, even in his opinion, and busty brunette with wine red eyes that was very kind and polite to her patrons, until they got on her bad side. Unfortunately, this particular rose had some pretty nasty thorns, as Naruto had personally watched her toss one of the more daring perverts from her establishment when he'd ignored the "No touching" rule she'd implemented some time ago.

'_It's amazing how many idiots fail to realize how strong a beautiful woman can be…_' Naruto thought to himself as he could clearly see the definition of muscle when it came to this young woman. Reaching out, the masked blond takes a sip of the drink he'd ordered before staring into his mug intently. In his mug he could vaguely see his own reflection, or rather, he saw the reflection of the man named Shadow… _'This isn't me, but for some reason, it still looks familiar, it feels comfortable, and it's almost like I've done this before.'_ Naruto thought while looking at the reflection in his mug, then closed his eyes with a soft exhale of breath. Reaching a hand up, Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose lightly before leaning back and gazing at the roof.

'_There's no sign of Xion on this world thus far, perhaps I should just move on…'_ The blond haired teen considered before blinking when he heard the door to the bar opened. Leaning forward, Naruto gazed to a mirror behind the, admittedly lovely, woman who was manning the bar. In the mirror he spotted Yuffie, Kakashi, and Aqua, causing a frown to cross his features for a moment before noticing that Sasuke and Sakura were both absent from the group. _'What happened? Did they actually manage to kill one another or what?'_ Naruto wondered to himself with a slight mental chuckle before closing his eyes and took another sip of his drink.

"Hey, Tifa!" Yuffie called out loudly through the throngs of patrons sitting around the bar and Naruto had to wonder if he used to be that loud, before stiffening as Yuffie approached. Reaching up, he quickly replaced his mask over his face before leaving some Munnie on the counter.

"Keep the change…" Naruto offered quietly, the woman blinking for only a moment before accepting the offered Munnie.

"Please come again." Tifa offered pleasantly while Naruto quickly got up and then walked to the side just as Yuffie came up to the counter.

"Hey, how's it going Teef?" Yuffie asked with a smile and the brunette rolled her eyes before smiling softly.

"Same as ever, but has there been any sign of Cloud lately?" The woman questioned of her younger friend and Yuffie let out a breath before shaking her head.

"Sorry but no, still haven't seen any sign of ol' Chocobo Head anywhere." The girl replied and Tifa snickered at her oldest friends expense. However Yuffie then turned unnervingly serious as she leaned over the counter and Tifa leaned closer to listen. "But that's not what I'm here for, I'm looking for a guy called Shadow, he wears a mask and he should be in some dark crimson armor." Yuffie stated while looking around discretely and Tifa frowned while looking at her friend.

"Why are you looking for him?" Tifa questioned and Yuffie let out a sigh before sitting down with a pout on her face.

"Cause Lord Ansem wants to hire him so he'll go with me and some others to check out reports of a weird octopus in the Purification Facility." Yuffie replied while drumming her fingers on the counter and then growled lowly. "And it's not even my idea, I could personally do without hiring that over priced ass-hole again!" Yuffie stated in a low growl and Tifa shook her head for a moment before smirking.

"Well, you just missed him. He must've saw you cause he left just before you got up here." Tifa noted and Yuffie slammed her forehead into the counter before looking up with a deep scowl.

"When I get my hands on him, I am so totally gonna kill that ass hole!" She declared before jumping up and running to Kakashi and Aqua, Tifa snickering to herself as she went. _'Wow, so someone can actually get under Yuffie's skin? That's impressive…'_ Tifa mused to herself while shaking her head as she cleaned a glass and prepared another patrons drink…

Meanwhile, Naruto walked down the streets of Radiant Garden before spotting a strange shop with a pair of armored greaves for sale. _'I've got armor on everything else, a pair of greaves couldn't hurt…'_ He decided while walking over to the shop and looked at a woman with a bright smile. "Hello, how may I help you sir?" She questioned pleasantly and Naruto pointed to the dark crimson and black armored greaves. "Those are Dragon Boots, they're four thousand Munnie." She stated simply and Naruto reached to his side and produced the desired amount, before handing it over to the woman.

"Oh! You actually want them?" She questioned and Naruto silently nodded his head, causing the woman to smile before taking the greaves down and handing them over to the masked blond. "Thank you, and here you are, sir. Have a pleasant evening." The woman offered with a smile and Naruto nodded his head silently, then knelt down and removed the many purple wrappings on his legs and boots before placing them into his pouch. Unbuckling the leather straps inside of the dark-crimson armored greaves, Naruto then slipped his boot-covered legs into the strange greaves before tightening their straps over the boots.

Tapping his foot into the ground for a moment, Naruto then crouched down before jumping high into the air. Raising a brow when he felt himself hover for several moments, Naruto then fell back to the ground and landed in a low crouch. Humming lightly, the blond then stood back up and brushed himself off for a moment. Giving a nod of acknowledgement to a now stunned woman, Naruto then crossed his arms over his chest before walking off into the crowd of people on the streets. However as he walked he noticed someone following him thus let out a sigh and turned to find, surprisingly and pleasantly, Aqua instead of Yuffie.

"Hello again, Shadow." She offered pleasantly and Naruto hummed while raising a brow as he looked at the bluenette.

"Aqua, what do you need?" Naruto questioned simply, but before the Bluenette could respond, Yuffie and Kakashi walked over, the younger girl scowling deeply before glaring at him.

"Lord Ansem wants you to accompany us to look for an Octopus." Yuffie replied with a scowl and Naruto raised a brow before holding out one hand.

"Three Thousand." He stated and Yuffie growled before reaching to her side and placing a bag of Munnie into his hand. Raising a brow, Naruto looked at the bag and weighed it in his hand for a moment. Opening it up he then pulled out a couple Monnie just to make sure that Yuffie wasn't pulling a fast one on him. "No complaining this time?" Naruto questioned with a raised brow, placing the back into the pouch hidden by the sash around his waist.

"Lord Ansem gave me the munnie this time… he hired you, not me." Yuffie stated and Naruto hummed before crossing his arms and looking to them pointedly.

"Lead on." He stated simply and Aqua nodded her head, being familiar with the section of the city that they were going too as she'd been there before. Following behind the bluenette, Naruto silently followed her while turning to look at Kakashi, whom had pulled out his usual little orange book. _'Some things never change…'_ Naruto decided before shaking his head, as he looked to Yuffie, the girl glaring at him. "Where are the other two?" Naruto questioned of the dark haired girl and she let out a breath.

"Lord Ansem has them doing perimeter guard duty… and boy do I wish the Royal Guard were still around, I hate doing their jobs for them!" Yuffie complained quite loudly while Naruto let out a light hum as he turned around and followed behind Aqua, and trying not to follow the sway of her hips rather than follow her. Twitching at the Jiraiya-ish thought that just passed his mind, the masked blond made a mental note to stab himself if he ever had another perverse thought about Aqua. _'She's way too pure to think of her like that.'_ He thought to himself with a mental nod and then closed his eyes as he followed behind her silently.

The trip was actually uneventful, and soon enough, Naruto found himself following Aqua into a water-treatment area with numerous copper pipes around them on all sides. Alongside those however was years of dirt and grime, not to mention the pipes were leaking and there was sludge along the ground. "Great, I hate walking through sewers and this is pretty close." Yuffie grumbled out while kicking a foot to the side to throw off some sludge that was clinging to her shoes. Twitching mentally Naruto then turned to give the dark haired girl a flat look.

"Deal with it, we're down here for a job, if this place is so sickening to you, then lets just get it done quickly and then get out of here." Naruto stated rather pointedly before turning and walking further into the Purification-Facility. Mocking the masked blond for a moment, Yuffie then crossed her arms and glared at Naruto's back as he walked out of sight.

"You know he's right… the sooner we finish, the sooner you can leave." Kakashi noted mostly to himself while walking after Naruto, not looking away from his book as Yuffie huffed.

"Whatever, let's just get this over with so I can get far away from that creep and never have to work with him again." Yuffie grumbled while crossing her arms and Aqua shook her head with a small smile on her face.

"He's really not so bad, Yuffie. You just have to give him a chance." Aqua stated and Yuffie waved it off while narrowing her eyes dangerously on the other girl.

"Says you, he's a creep, he's also an overpriced ass hole, and you have a crush on him so you're biased." Yuffie stated with a nod of her head and Aqua blushed lightly while giving the other girl a look.

"I d-do not!" Aqua insisted and got a "Yeah right" look from Yuffie as a result, the Bluenette crossing her arms when she did. "I don't! I'm just curious about him, he's interesting, I mean… how many people like him do you know?" Aqua questioned and Yuffie hummed quietly, still not believing her thought, as she was fairly certain that Aqua had a crush on the masked Nin. Listening in on this and frowning under his mask, Naruto shook his head lightly at the girl's level of volume. _'If there is an Octopus down here it might flee when it hears us…'_ Naruto mused as he'd seen some pretty weird things, an Octopus running away wouldn't be too weird by comparison.

As he continued through the Purification Facility, Naruto couldn't help but feel vague memories start to pop up before quickly shaking them off as he turned to a gate. Opening the gate after breaking an old and rusted lock, the masked blond then walked down a short flight of stairs to an open area below. Raising a brow, Naruto came to a large circular open area with pipes all around and glass beneath them. However at the center of it all was a large octopus with numerous sharp yellow teeth, and crazy red eyes. _'What the hell?'_ Naruto questioned inwardly as he walked towards the creature, closely followed by Aqua and the others.

"What in Holy's name is that?" Yuffie demanded while Kakashi just gaped as he saw the strange purple land octopus. Said creature blinked for a moment before looking at all of them intently. It lingered on Yuffie and Aqua, and Naruto could swear he heard a Jiraiya-ish giggle from the creature, then moved on to Kakashi, and then finally came to a stop on Naruto himself before blinking.

"**Oh hey! Is that you Shadow? Or am I mistaking some other Assassin for someone I know?"** The Octopus questioned and Naruto blinked once more before tilting his head to one side. **"No that's definitely you Shadow, but your wearing Genji Armor and Dragon-Boots. Not your usual gear, but I'd still recognize your mug anywhere! Anyways, what are you doing in a place like this?"** The strange Purple-Octopus questioned of the masked blond who blinked once more, then wondered what kind of life this "Shadow" person had led. As he wondered that, Yuffie shook her head and then shot a look to Naruto as he continued to stare at the purple-octopus.

"Wow Shadow, you sure do get around huh…" Yuffie noted aloud while then crossing her arms over her chest. "First that Gilgamesh guy knew you from somewhere, and now a purple Octopus… what next? A talking Moogle?" Yuffie questioned aloud, unaware that there were in fact many talking Moogles as she'd never seen one before… Shaking his head of that thought, Naruto then turned back around to face the purple-octopus with a frown. _'I could pretend I know him, but I don't know his name… besides, Gilgamesh didn't know me at first so I could just ask him.'_ Naruto mused while walking towards the Purple-Octopus, and then cleared his throat to get its attention.

"Do I know you?" Naruto then questioned and the Octopus seemed to rise up and glare at the masked blond furiously.

"**What? Of course you know me! I'm the Great Ultros, Octopus Royalty! How dare a lowborn thug like you forget me!"** The Purple-Octopus, now named Ultros, declared quite loudly before shrinking down and narrowing its eyes. **"We've met before alright, you and that super-cute Terra and the buxom Celes! Ooh, I wonder where they are?"** Ultross declared and Naruto palmed his face while shaking his head. _'How the hell did I find the one creature just as perverted as Ero-Sennin, __**after**__ I meet the freak who has to be his other?'_ Naruto wondered as Gilgamesh had the quirks of Jraiya, not to mention the hidden power, and this Ultros thing seemed to be his perversion as beyond calling Aqua a "Cutie", Gilgamesh wasn't really a pervert.

"Wait a second, Terra… you mean Terra, as in a tall, spiky brown haired man that wields a Keyblade?" Aqua questioned of the purple-octopus named Ultros, only for it to nearly jump in revulsion and shiver all over. _'Guess that's a no…'_ Aqua thought to herself as Ultros then lunged forward, the bluenette taking a step back from him.

"**NO! I mean the super cute blond haired girl who can change into an Esper! Urgh! Besides, who actually names a guy Terra? It's so obviously a girls name!"** Ultros declared and both Naruto and Aqua looked to each other before giving the Purple-Octopus a flat look.

"Obviously whoever named the Terra she knew thought it worked as a boy's name…" Naruto stated flatly and Ultros blinked before nodding his head, seeing the blond haired teen's point on the matter before staring at Aqua and Yuffie. Both girls quickly grew uncomfortable with the purple-octopus staring at them, especially when he started to giggle perversely.

"Uhh… could you stop that, you're kind of creeping me out." Yuffie pleaded with a look towards the Octopus only for the equivalent of a grin to cross Ultros' features. _'Well that can't be good.'_ The young Ninja mentally declared as she took a few steps back from the strange Purple-Octopus, Aqua doing the same.

"**Hey, you two are pretty tasty morsels yourselves! Let me get my bib!"** The Purple Octopus questioned while it's tentacles shot out and quickly wrapped around both Yuffie and Aqua. Lifting the girls into the air, Ultros started to giggle to himself as he could now get a good look at both of them. **"Gwee-hee-hee! I wonder if this make me a bad Octopus?"** Ultros wondered to himself with a giggle only to blink as Naruto moved quickly and grabbed Aqua out of his grip, and then quickly twisted in the air to kick the tentacle holding Yuffie. **"YEOWCH! That really hurt!"** Ultros declared while rubbing its aching tentacle as Yuffie fell onto her ass and then grimaced in pain. Growling she then looked to Naruto as he landed in a crouch while holding onto Aqua.

"You alright?" Naruto asked the bluenette and she silently nodded her head before both turned to see the growling Yuffie.

"Hey! Why didn't you catch me!" She demanded with a scowl and Naruto hummed lightly while tilting his head to one side as he looked at her. Truthfully, Naruto had figured that since Yuffie was a ninja she'd be able to right herself in the air and land on her feet. He hadn't taken into account that Ultross had caught her by surprise with its tentacles, not to mention the fact he was shaking her so she had probably been a little dizzy when she was released…

"Because you're a Ninja, you're supposed to be able to land on your feet…" He stated simply and she twitched before crossing her arms over her chest and started to mutter under her breath indignantly. However she then pushed herself up and flipped back as Ultros nearly grabbed her with one of its tentacles again. As soon as Yuffie did, Naruto quickly jumped back out of the way as the Purple-Octopus tried to slam a Tentacle down on top of him._ 'I'm guessing he's the type who always wants to get what he wants no matter what anyone says.'_ The blond thought to himself while calmly looking up at the Purple-Octopus as it glared at him furiously.

"**Why you filthy piece of scum! How dare you do that to me! I challenge you to a duel!"** Ultros declared while spitting a blob of black ink at the masked blond, only for him to quickly dodge to the side. Frowning deeply, Naruto then hummed before looking to Aqua and setting her back onto her feet. With that done, Naruto cracked his neck and walked passed her and towards Ultros as he narrowed his eyes onto him. **"Hey, wait a second… something seems a little off about you."** Ultros noted mostly to himself before Naruto crouched down and then lunged forward in a jump and grabbed one of his Tentacles. Digging his heels into the ground to slow himself down, Naruto then ran around the Octopus, grabbing him by each of his Tentacles and quickly tying them around one another.

Looking down and seeing his predicament, the Purple-Octopus then seemed to grimace while looking to Naruto warily. **"This is really gonna hurt, aint it?"** The Purple Octopus questioned and Naruto silently nodded his head before grabbing the mass of tentacles and twisted into a spin. Yelping loudly as he was spun around and around, Ultros then gave out one last cru as Naruto came to a stop and flung the enormous purple-octopus up into the air.

"**Well I hate to Ink and run, but I AM an Octopus, soo…"** Ultros started to say and Naruto jumped into the air before twisting into a kick, sending the large Purple-Octopus flying into the distance. **"Th-That's all folks! Uncle-Ulty is blasting off again!"** The Purple-Octopus declared loudly as he vanished into the distant horizon, Naruto brushing off his hands with a frown on his face. _'I don't know who that guy was, but I'm glad he's gone…'_ Naruto decided while crossing his arms over his chest, then narrowed his eyes as someone started to clap their hands. Quickly turning around to the clapping, Naruto saw a Mysterious Figure in a black-cloak; the Mysterious Figure was blinking in and out of spectrum with each clap before he suddenly vanished completely.

"What the…" Naruto breathed while Aqua quickly formed her Keyblade and turned to see The Mysterious Figure now standing behind Yuffie, his arms crossed over his chest. Turning his head to look over Yuffie, The Mysterious Figure slowly shook his head while looking at Aqua.

"Yuffie behind you!" Aqua cried out and Yuffie turned towards him, only to see that nothing was there. Backing up and bumping into a now wary Kakashi, the girl then turned to see the Silver haired man was holding a Kunai out. Turning from the two ninja, Aqua widened her eyes seeing The Mysterious Figure standing with his back to Naruto, arms lowered to his sides.

"Who are you?" Naruto questioned and The Mysterious Figure turned on his heel to stand before him before holding a hand forward. Forming one of his twin blades into his hand, the Mysterious Figure then conjured another and dropped into a stance. "So you want to fight then?" Naruto questioned flatly, yet The Mysterious Figure didn't make another move, so the blond scoffed before pulling the Genji-Blade from his back and then removed Gloria from his pouch. "Alright, just don't cry when you lose." Naruto stated back, yet The Mysterious Figure lunged forward, blinking out of existence till he was right passed the blond and in the air behind him.

Twisting around, The Mysterious Figure conjured a mass of spinning green wind that he then launched forward. The wind moved with unreal speed as it then slammed into Aqua, Yuffie, and Kakashi, throwing each of them into the distance. Flipping in midair, The Mysterious Figure then gracefully landed on his feet and turned to face the blond haired youth. _'Okay, something tells me I've really got to stop picking fights with strange people…'_ Naruto thought before forming The Genji-Key into his free hand and dropping into a stance. Lifting a hand while still holding his blades, The Mysterious Figure then lowed it to point a single finger at the blond haired youth. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto then lunged at the Mysterious who faded out of spectrum as he did.

Sliding to a halt, Naruto looked for The Mysterious Figure only to grunt as he appeared in a blink and lunged at him with his blades. Gritting his teeth as The Mysterious Figure began to slice and cut into him, Naruto then barely managed to lock his own blades with his enemies before gritting his teeth and shoving him back. The Mysterious Figure blinked out of existence as he did, only to reappear perfectly alright on the ground across from him. Frowning deeply, Naruto then reached up to his shoulder and rubbed it lightly while facing The Mysterious Figure. _'He's strong, he's fast, and he's an unknown warrior, I have to find his weakness.'_ Naruto thought to himself before forming a ball of Dark-Fire on his hand and sending out several spheres of it flying toward the Mysterious Figure.

However, he blurred out of existence again before reappearing above a now surprised blond haired youth. _'How can anyone be that fast!'_ Naruto mentally demanded while lunging out of the way as The Mysterious Figure sent one of his blades down while connected to a glowing rope. Sliding into a crouch Naruto looked back up towards the Mysterious Figure and watched him blink out of existence to appear on the ground once more. The Mysterious Figure then formed his blades into a spear before crouching back, then jetting towards Naruto with blinding speed. Cursing under his breath, Naruto ducked and rolled out of the way several times as The Mysterious Figure followed him while continually using the attack.

Coming out of the roll soon enough, Naruto then watched The Mysterious Figure crush his blades and form dozens of orbs of light that floated around him. _'He's an extremely powerful fighter physically, so a full frontal assault on him would be Suicide, maybe if I tried long range I could…'_ The blond started to think only for the orbs then shot towards Naruto before sending beams of light shaped like his blades at the surprised blond, slashing and piercing into him. Gritting his teeth Naruto managed to raise a Keyblade to block the blades before rolling out of the way and watching as the spheres returned to The Mysterious Figure, where he then reformed his blades into his open hands.

'_Scratch that, those weapons of his are highly versatile, they can be either close or long range, this is insane!'_ Naruto thought to himself while The Mysterious Figure then crouched down, flames roaring to life in a circle around him. _'Not to mention he knows some seriously powerful wind and fire magic.'_ Naruto added to his thoughts as the flames around The Mysterious Figure became flaming pillars before he lunged at the blond. Rolling out of the way of the attack, Naruto cursed while rolling out of the way of several more and coming out in a crouch across from The Mysterious Figure. Crouching down, Naruto lunged at The Mysterious Figure and swung his blade through him, only to widen his eyes as a clock-face appeared.

Naruto then grunted as he felt both himself and The Mysterious Figure reverse their previous movements, The Mysterious Figure vanishing before he could slice into him with the Genji-Blade. _'And to top it all off, he can control Time, wonderful…'_ Naruto added with a frown as The Mysterious Figure shook his head and backed up a few paces, Naruto's eyes narrowing as he did. _'But it looks like controlling time for him causes him to grow fatigued faster… I can probably use that to my advantage.'_ Naruto reasoned inwardly before The Mysterious Figure lunged forward, only to split into about nine separate copies of himself.

'_Crap! He can clone himself too!'_ Naruto demanded inwardly while evading several swings from the numerous copies of The Mysterious Figure and then flipping into the air with a scowl. _'Alright, I really can't play around with this guy, he's ungodly powerful and extremely dangerous!'_ Naruto thought while forming No-Heart in place of the Genji-Key and then placed the Genji-Blade onto his back as he formed Lost-Memory into his open hand. Landing on the ground a second later, Naruto couldn't help but feel like The Mysterious Figure was smirking as he lunged forward, evading several swings from the multiple copies of the man and slicing through them, dispelling them easily.

'_They almost work like Kage-Bunshin…'_ Naruto noted to himself as he continued to slice his way through the clones and then lunged at the original. Swinging and twisting his blades at the Mysterious Figure, Naruto soon scowled as the cloaked man flipped up into the air. Holding out his hands, the man then sent an X shaped beam of energy flying towards him. Cursing and rolling under it, Naruto then rolled out of the way of a string of light attached to one of the blades before sliding to a halt and scowling up towards The Mysterious Figure. Narrowing his eyes the blond then brought both arms up to make an X over his chest, his White-Seeker armor forming over his body as he did so. Cracking his neck for a moment, Naruto then crouched down into his usual stance.

"_Now the game really begin…"_ The masked blond uttered darkly before quickly lunging at The Mysterious Figure once more. Sliding to a halt, the blond then swung his blade forward, sending an arc of darkness ripping towards the Mysterious-Figure. Seeing it coming at him, The Mysterious Figure lunged to the side and dodged out of the way before sending a blast of green wind towards the masked blond. Jumping over the attack, the blond haired youth rose higher into the air than normal before coming down on top of The Mysterious-Figure, swinging both keyblades at him. However the Mysterious-Figure just as quickly blocked the twin keyblades with his own weapons, then shoved the masked blond back.

Flipping back, The Mysterious-Figure then crouched into a stance before his entire body faded from view. Widening his eyes, Naruto looked for him only to curse and flip back as only The Mysterious-Figrure's weapons were still visible. Twisting and dodging the blades from The Mysterious Figure, then grunted as the cloaked man flipped back and took a strange stance. However, Naruto then looked around for a moment before widening his eyes and gazing upwards, a meteor heading right for him. _'He can call down meteors as well!'_ Naruto mentally demanded before cursing as he lunged out of the way before ducking into a roll as the meteor impacted with the ground, sending him rolling forward.

Flipping out of the roll, Naruto twisted in the air and came into a backward skid, still facing The Mysterious Figure as he slowed to a stop. However the Mysterious Figure then jumped back before lunging forward, seeming to blur into movement as he was suddenly upon a shocked blond. Widening his eyes, Naruto grunted as The Mysterious Figure began to slash and slice through him, soon joined by at least half a dozen clones that all managed to twist and warp around one another with unreal grace. _'This… is… too much!'_ Naruto thought as one of the Mysterious-Figures came at him once more and a bright light enveloped the White-Seeker.

"_**You have unlocked The Final Spellbinder! The Power of Time itself is now yours!"**_ A familiar voice echoed in the back of Naruto's mind as a clock-face appeared before the blond and time started to reverse, The Mysterious Figure seeming to move backwards in slow motion as he does. Soon enough The White-Seeker felt a smirk cross his lips as he jumped over The Mysterious Figure before he could even start to slice and dice him. Landing behind The Mysterious Figure, Naruto grunted as his Six-Spellbinders appeared on his arms, and then came off to spin around his body. Watching them for a moment, Naruto then reached out his right hand and watched as the Spellbinders formed into a metal bracelet and five rings on his hand.

The Bracelet was a simple enough metal ring, only was divided into four sections that created a silver and obsidian checker pattern, five glowing gemstones lined the top of the bracelet, each stone pertaining to one of his Spellbinders, while the five rings on his fingers had a gemstone pertaining to each of the spells he'd learned over his time of unlocking Spellbinders. _'My Spellbinders are Knowledge, Shadow Combat, Magic, Time, Darkness, and Mastery, my Spells are, Dark-Fire, Black-Ice, Anti-Lightning, Regen, and Aero.'_ Naruto thought to himself while holding up his wrist for a moment, before smirking darkly as he gazed towards The Mysterious Figure. Cracking his neck, Naruto then crouched down before lunging forward and formed some Dark-Fire around his body into a sort of "Negative Flame-Surge".

The Mysterious Figure was pushed back by the attack but quickly twisted into a swing at the blond, only for him to fade out of existence as he'd been doing earlier. Turning and looking for him, The Mysterious-Figure then lurched forward as Naruto came at him from behind. Twisting and swinging his weapons into The Mysterious Figure, Naruto then twisted low before kicking up and knocking his hood back. _"Now lets finally get a decent look at you!"_ The blond declared loudly as The Mysterious Figure fell onto his back before turning onto his front, his twin blades falling into the ground before forming together.

'_Wait… what the?'_ Naruto wondered as he watched the twin clock-blades form into a single Keyblade instead. The tip of the shaft of the keyblade appears to be a stopwatch; the teeth are blue and formed from diamond shaped spikes to a black web like pattern on both sides of the stopwatch with a white web pattern beneath it, the shaft is little more than glowing cyan light, with a familiar design at the point at the hilt like the weapons of the Mysterious Figure, a stopwatch with an intricate design is at the center of the hilt, the handle is a long white, and the guard of the weapon is another intricately designed one that vaguely reminds Naruto of a clock, the chain of the weapon was made of several intricate shapes that end with an hourglass… (KHBBS: No Name…)

"_You have… a Keyblade?"_ Naruto mumbled quietly while The Mysterious Figure chuckled lightly and slowly stood up to his feet.

"Something like that…" The man replied while turning on his heel, showing an older man with bright spiky blond hair with silver-grey roots that was swept back from his face and an amused smirk across his lips. However his eyes instantly caused Naruto to widen his own eyes as he gazed at the mirror image of himself… only several years older… his eyes were bi-colored now, the right eye was a bright azure blue, and his left eye a deep amber gold color…

"_But… how?"_ Naruto started to question and The Mysterious Figure crossed his arms and walked towards No-Name. Lashing out, the older blond kicked the weapon towards Naruto, the younger blond barely catching it before staring at his older self with a confused look on his face.

"Don't ask why, he didn't answer me back then… and I certainly wont this time." The Mysterious Figure noted with an amused look on his face before reaching back and replacing his hood over his head. "In any case, our mutual… _**friend**_ should be arriving soon." He noted mostly to himself with an amused look and Naruto turned in time to see Aqua and the others approaching him and The Mysterious Figure. "Oh, and I need to pay you back for knocking off my hood…" The Mysterious Figure suddenly noted while warping over to the blond and twisted into kick, knocking his helmet off and sending it bouncing over to the side with a grin.

"Why'd you…?" Naruto started to question, only for The Mysterious Figure to vanish with a smirk on his face. Frowning deeply, Naruto then looked to the "No Name" Keyblade in his hand, and then clenched a fist on its handle. _'Was that really me? And if it was, then why did I decide to jump back in time?'_ Naruto wondered to himself before stiffening as Aqua quickly approached him from behind.

"Shadow?" She questioned and Naruto closed his eyes before turning to look at her from the corner of his azure blue eye. Smiling weakly and shaking his head, Naruto decided that there was no point in hiding who he was anymore so turned around to face the blue haired woman, not surprised when he saw her eyes widening as she got a good look at his face. "Ven?" She asked softly, Naruto reaching back to rub the back of his neck while dismissing No Name, and then gave her a very familiar grin.

"Hey Aqua, how've you been?" Naruto questioned of the blue haired girl, Aqua silently gazing at him before blinking. She looked at the blond and instantly noted the armor and its similarity to Vanitas Sentiment, however unlike her last meeting with "Ven", the blond didn't seem to be under Vanitas' control even though he was wearing the armor that was similar to it.

"You… you've really changed a lot, huh Ven?" She noted more to herself than anyone and Naruto cleared his throat while crossing his arms over his chest.

"And you're the same as back then?" The blond questioned softly and the blue haired girl seemed to be more than a little uncomfortable, before smiling softly. _'Maybe it is Ven this time…'_ She thought while taking a breath and folding her arms behind her back, Kakashi and Yuffie just arriving on the scene.

"That's not what I meant…" She said with a slight shake of her head, and then smiled playfully towards the blond haired teen. "I mean you went and got all handsome on me." Aqua stated and Naruto blushed for a moment and chuckled nervously, not really sure how he should take that. He was aware that he physically looked like Ven, and that he even had his soul and a pretty good chunk of his memories. However Naruto still didn't know if he actually _**was**_ Ven or not… hell… most of his life was pretty confusing now that he actually took a moment to think about it. Shaking those thoughts from his head, Naruto then took a step back from Aqua and saw her move forward.

"Please wait!" Aqua called while walking towards the blond, only for him to back up as she approached him. Coming to a stop, Aqua held her hands to her chest, eyes closed for a moment before looking to him with a pleading expression. "Before you go, could you… can you at least tell me if you're really my friend, Ven?" She pleaded of the blond haired teen, and Naruto closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. Slowly reaching back, Naruto then pulled a familiar green star from the pouch at his lower back and held it out for Aqua to see.

"I think… some of me is." Naruto responded before flipping the Wayfinder up and catching it in his hand. Using his new Spellbinder of time, Naruto faded out and appeared where his helmet fell. Kneeling down to pick it up, Naruto then held it under his arm as he looked to Aqua and the others. "Catch you later." The blond offered and then crouched down before jumping up, and flipping into a Dark-Corridor, where he vanished from sight as Aqua looked on silently. Behind the blue haired girl, Yuffie frowned while tilting her head to one side with her hands on her hips, a deep frown on Kakashi's face as he looked up towards the Dark-Corridor as it sealed shut.

"So wait, Shadow was actually Aqua's friend Ventus?" Yuffie questioned from where she and Kakashi were standing; yet the silver haired Jounin frowned deeply while reaching up to rub at his chin.

"I don't know if he really was or not… but I intend to find out…" Kakashi noted more to himself as he gazed to where the spiky haired youth had been a moment before, then turned on his heel and headed back towards the castle. He needed to find Sakura and Sasuke and tell them what he'd seen, and then ask Sasuke if that could've been Naruto…

(Elsewhere…)

Tidus and Auron both moved back to evade an otherwise crushing blow from Jecht's massive sword. Landing on his feet Tidus wasted no time as he lunged forward into a series of flips before jumping up and swinging his blade through Jecht. Grunting in pain, the massive "Monster" swung his arm at the airborne Tidus, smashing him into the ground. However as he did, Auron lunged forward and swung his own blade through his arm, causing the massive monster to roar in pain and move back by several paces. This is crazy, his skin is tougher than steel!" Tidus noted aloud and Jecht silently leaned his blade into his shoulders before crouching slightly.

"Not for long…" The man noted while lunging forward as Jecht swung his arm at him again, blurring under the limb with unreal speed the man then swung his sword, a cracking sound echoing out as he did. Roaring in pain, Jecht moved back a pace and Tidus saw his own chance. Lunging forward, Tidus ran up the length of Jecht's massive blade before jumping up and forming a Blitz-Ball into his hand. Twisting into a kick he sent the ball at Jecht's head before lunging towards the man in midair. Nearing him, Tidus twisted into a kick to Jecht's face, and then formed a ball of light that exploded and sent him flying away from the enormous creature.

Flipping in midair, the blond haired teen landed and slid back from Jecht while in a low crouch. Turning to see his Old Man, the blond haired teen then stood up as he started to fade into a flurry of strange lights. However, Jecht then reformed on the ground, his sword having returned to its original form alongside him as he fell to one knee and cracked his neck. "Not bad runt… too bad you needed ol' Auron to actually beat me." Jecht noted and Tidus scowled towards his father as the man got back to his feet and brought his sword up, digging it into the ground at his side. "You're pathetic." He noted with a shake of his head. "Can't even get one thing right without help, can you?" The man questioned and Tidus took a step forward while glaring at him.

"No, I just…" He started to say and Jecht scoffed while closing his eyes.

"Well, if you don't understand it, try just accepting it." Jecht offered sagely, catching the blond haired teen off guard as he stared at the man.

"Huh?" He asked intelligently while scratching his head and Jecht smirked.

"Accept that you are weak. Accept the path you have taken. Accept that nothing makes sense in this whole damn world!" Jecht explained to a confused Tidus and an amused looking Auron silently watched on. "Once you accept everything, then you can choose your next path…" The man continued while closing his eyes and looking upwards, opening his eyes to stare at the endless blue sky. "… the one path you really wanna take." Jecht finished while looking back to his son, the blond haired teen frowning as he gazed at his father.

"You just wanted to tell me that?" Tidus questioned of him and the older man grinned towards him.

"You gonna cry again?" Jecht questioned playfully and Tidus twitched while glaring at the man heatedly.

"Sh-Shut up!" He declared angrily and Jecht let out a laugh while looking to his son with a wide grin.

"There. That's my boy." Jecht noted mostly to himself with a smile, before widening his eyes and falling forward.

"Dad!" Tidus called out before looking around for whoever attacked, Jecht, Auron narrowing his eyes as a loud whooping cackle echoed out all around them.

Soon enough a black gateway that resembled a Dark-Corridor opened up and a strange man walked out. "Hmm… there's sand on my boots…" He noted to himself while shaking his said boots to either side while trying to remove the same from them, and then let out a sigh, as it didn't seem to work. "Oh well, without someone to brush it off it looks like I'm spot out of luck." He decided before blinking and looking around before grinning when he spotted the downed Jecht. Skipping over to him, the strange man then got down and gazed at the unconscious form of Jecht with a grin.

"Oopsie! Someone went and lost, didn't he?" He noted more to himself than anyone before scratching at his head. "You know what they say about second place…" The man started to say; his skin chalk white with markings over his face like a clown, pointed ears, and bright painted red nails, his bright blond hair pulled back into a large white feather, a single curly bang hanging into his face, his green eyes staring intently at Jecht. "Completely pathetic!" The man declared with a flourish while spreading his arms with a wide grin, dressed in a menagerie of bright colors on clothes, which included a cape of all things, and still looked completely and utterly mismatched on him.

"Meh. Don't sweat it, a little thing like that's not going to be the end of you." The man noted mostly to himself while rubbing his chin with that same wide grin on his face. "The next time you fight, it'll be study time! All over again!" The man declared happily while looking down at Jecht and then started to tap his chin thoughtfully. "Oh, what kind of deliciously depraved memories should I fill you up with, hmm?" The man wondered to himself before finally noticing Tidus and Auron and turned to look at them with a blink. "Hey, I think I know you…" The man stated while pointing to Tidus, then looked to Auron and scratched his head.

"But as for you, I have no idea who you are, new to the game, eh?" The man noted to himself before placing his hands on his hips. "Well if you're not already, then you should quickly get used to being confused newbie." The blond haired man stated before seeming to lay in midair with a wide grin on his face. "This game isn't like anything you've ever played before, cause this time it's for keeps!" The blond haired man stated with a wide grin and Tidus twitched before taking a step forward and forming his blade back into his hands.

"Would you please just shut up! And who the hell are you anyways!" Tidus demanded of the blond haired man and he crossed his arms while turning in the air to hover over the ground.

"Hmm… looks like you're the real one then. That's kind of interesting… so does that mean he's…" He noted to himself while looking down to the unconscious form of Jecht at his side, and then grinned while turning to Tidus and Auron. "But as for me, the name is Kefka Palazzo! And don't you dare forget it!" Kefka declared with a grin and Auron walked forward and got between the man and Tidus.

"What do you want with Jecht?" The black haired man questioned simply and Kefka hummed while leaning back in midair.

"Honestly. I personally couldn't care less about the brute, but ol' golden boy wants to recruit our former members back into our ranks… it's really quite irritating actually." Kefka replied while turning in midair until he was suddenly still and let out a breath while looking "Down" towards the back of The Dark Depths. "Hey you can come out now, Witchy Missy." The crazed clown declared and Tidus turned around in time to see a strange woman appear in a blur of features. She was an older woman, with pale skin that had several tattoos on it, as well as bright yellow eyes and long silver grey hair done up into a pair of pointed horns with ornaments in it and her bangs framing her face and reaching down to her waist, a golden necklace around her neck, while she wears a long low cut V neck red dress that drags on the floor and ends with purple claws on her hands and black fur around the collar that forms into a pair of black wings at her backs.

"Kefka, we don't have time to be playing around." The woman noted while walking forward, blurring into motion she passed both Tidus and Auron to give a rather pointed look to the psycho-clown. "We have a schedule to keep." She reminded and the crazed clown scoffed while crossing his arms over his chest.

"What do I care about schedules? I'm already stronger now than I was during the game… returning here has given each of us a major boost in power after all." Kefka noted more to himself than anyone and the woman turned and then smirked darkly as a man in a black leather jacket jumped into The Dark Depths. "Oh well looky here, even more of the old gang is back around! Oh it makes me all tingly inside!" Kefka noted to himself playfully before laughing darkly as the woman put a hand onto her hip and gazed at the brown haired man as he approached.

"What the hell is going on here?" He questioned bluntly and the silver haired woman merely smirked towards him.

"Don't recognize me boy? I'm hurt." She noted mockingly and Leon raised a brow while looking at the woman.

"Never seen you before in my life." He stated simply while leaning his Gunblade along his shoulders, Kefka laughing in his throat.

"Looks like he's an Original as well… but you don't exist in _**this**_ world!" Kefka noted before laughing loudly as the woman shot a glare at him, before a sudden thought occurred to her.

"Perhaps not, but I have it on good authority that my "Knight" and his comrades are somewhere among these worlds." She stated while looking to Kefka and the Psycho-Clown breathed out and laid down in midair.

"Oh really, feeling a little lonely then, Ultimecia?" Kefka questioned of the woman and got a rather scathing look from her as his only reply. "Oh who cares, I just wanna find little Terra… that's all that matters to me, Witchy Missy." Kefka replied with a wave and the woman frowned for a moment before crossing her arms under her chest.

"Have it your way then, but don't expect us to help you…" Ultimecia responded and Kefka rolled his eyes, then both turned to see an annoyed Leon walking towards them.

"Alright, I don't know who either of you are, but I do want to know what you think you're doing here on Radiant Garden." The man grumbled out and Kefka raised a brow before yawning tiredly and looked to where Jecht lay.

"Don't mind us Lionheart, we're just here to pick up something for ol' Golden boy…" Kefka responded before he and Ultimecia started to fade into a strange Dark-Corridor like portal. "But that's not to say we won't be meeting again, so until then, bye byeee!" Kefka declared loudly before letting out another whopping cackle as he, Jecht, and Ultimecia all vanished into the darkness.

"Dad!" Tidus declared as the three vanished completely, leaving a scowling Leon to turn to the blond and Auron.

"Alright you two start talking…" Leon ordered while leaning his Gunblade along his shoulders with a deep scowl on his face…

(?)

The Mysterious Figure walked out of a Dark-Corridor and into an endless expanse of stars and pathways. _"Well it's about time."_ A familiar voice that sounded of churning metal noted while the same Mysterious Figure that fought Tsunade walked from the side and stood before the Older-Naruto. _"So, did you obtain the data on Dark Key Bearers that I wanted?"_ The Mysterious Figure questioned and the cloaked blond hummed lightly before nodding his head. He then held out his left hand, and formed a swirling mass of data that he handed over to The Mysterious Figure. Taking it, the Mysterious Figure chuckled lightly while absorbing it into himself. _"Excellent, now I can finally continue my work and leave this timeline."_ The Mysterious Figure declared before both turned to see a third "Mysterious Figure", The Unknown, walking towards them silently.

Coming to a stop, The Unknown seemed to say something to them, which only they could truly hear, and the Older Naruto nodded his head. "Right, we'll leave your Timeline to you then." The Older Naruto stated while looking to The Unknown as he turned on his heel and walked away, fading out of existence as he did so. "That guy seriously gives me the creeps." The Older Naruto noted mostly to himself while The Mysterious Figure merely hummed for a moment, arms crossed over his chest.

"_Perhaps, but at least his allowing us to use these cloaks to mimic him has preserved this Timeline. And thanks for your help, fighting your younger self was just far too much trouble for me back then, especially after you got your own powers over time…"_ The Mysterious Figure noted and The Older Naruto nodded his head in agreement with him. However, the Older-Naruto then hummed lightly before walking towards a Vortex, The Mysterious Figure tilting his head to one side. _"And just where are you heading now?"_ The Mysterious Figure questioned and a slight smirk crossed the older blonds face before he shook his head.

"Home." He replied while walking through the vortex and into a large library, the vortex closing behind him. Looking around for a moment, he then reached up and lowered his hood before walking over to a desk with a picture on it. "Some things will change, while others just stay the same." The blond haired man mused while picking up the picture, before noticing as someone walked into the room. Turning, the blond man smiled warmly seeing a familiar blue haired woman walking towards him.

"There you are, Master Naruto." The woman said with a somewhat playful tone before crossing her arms and tilting her head to one side. Master-Naruto then turned towards the older-Aqua and tilted his head to one side as she approached. "Have you been hiding from your duties again?" She questioned and the blond haired man hummed once more while turning to her and still looking at the picture in his hand. Noticing the Black-Cloak that the older blond was wearing, the woman placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward. "Or have you been playing in Dark-Corridors again?" She asked him pointedly and the blond haired man cleared his throat and looked to the side.

"No, just reminiscing about the past." Master-Naruto replied and the woman raised a brow before walking over to him and looking at the picture. In it was a young Sora grinning widely with his Kingdom Key over his shoulders and a badly injured form, one of his arms pulled over the shoulders of an equally injured and younger Naruto as he looked at his Other with an annoyed frown on his face, while the Kingdom-Key-D was held in one of his hands. Chuckling lightly the woman slowly shook her head while moving her hair back from her face.

"You two make the weirdest brothers." She noted with a smile and Master-Naruto rolled his eyes before shaking his head as he looked down at the picture.

"Tell me about it… we fight together once, and then he suddenly won't leave me the hell alone." Master-Naruto noted before placing the picture back on the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "So, Master-Aqua…" The blond noted playfully and the woman rolled her eyes while tilting her head. "What exactly did you need me for?" The blond haired man questioned and the woman wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Can't I ever just come looking for you for no reason?" Master-Aqua questioned of him and the blond silently raised a brow, the woman rolling her eyes and pushing his chest playfully when he did. "Oh fine, your apprentices are in need of your teachings, oh great Master-Naruto." The woman said with a mocking tone and Master-Naruto smirked as he reached up and threw off his Black-Cloak.

He was now dressed in a familiar pair of silver lined knee length black boots, hakama-esque black pants, long white button down shirt with the top buttons undone and two black belts around his waist over it, a pair of white gloves with black bracers over them, his Completed Spellbinder Bracelet on his right wrist with spell-rings on his fingers, a white wedding band on his left ring finger, a mesh-shirt barely visible under the white one, with two black straps crossing over his shirt with a Keyblade-wielder symbol in the center, a pair of belts around his waist with straps hanging from his hips and crossing under two large pouches at the back of his waist, and finally he wears a long black coat with gold lining, grey leather strapped to his shoulders and grey cloth strapped to his coat, identical to the coat once worn by the Heartless known as "Ansem: The Seeker of Darkness".

"Well then, Master-Aqua, let us see to our pupils before they start to run amok." Master-Naruto offered while offering the woman his arm and she took it, the older blond briefly and somewhat proudly noting the black wedding band she wore on her left ring-finger, before both walked down the halls of the "Keyblade-Kingdom" Naruto's free arm moved behind his back… where his fingers started to twitch in a familiar way…

Watching this from a TV at Olympus Colloseum, Deadpool reaches a tissue up and dabs at his masks eyes. **"This is probably the most touching moment in the whole fic… I guess… or maybe it's not, but we'll just have to see what happens next."** Deadpool muses to himself while the DPC sit at his sides and nod their own heads in agreement, Noata raising a brow.

"How are we watching the future on a TV?" Noata questioned of the Deadpool-Corps only for Haruko to lean on his head, crossing her arms on top of it and grinning mischievously.

"Don't you know not to ask that kind of question Tah-kun? You'll never get the answer even when you do ask!" The woman declared while Duela snickered to herself, the form of Lixilmawl lying on the ground nearby.

"**Is the author still in a coma?"** Kid-Pool questioned while looking to his unmoving form as a crow landed on his back and started to peck at his head. **"Or did you somehow manage to kill him thanks to severe head-trauma?"** Kid-Pool then questioned while looking to Haruko accusingly, the pink haired woman grinning.

"Who cares… besides, it's not like that's the _**real**_ author, he's just a self-insert after all." Haruko reminded the DPC, all of them nodding their heads in agreement before turning back to the TV… only for Gilgamesh to suddenly fall out of The Void and crush it under his weight. Widening their eyes, The DPC silently looked to where the TV had been as Gilgamesh sat up and rubbed his head with a pained grimace.

"I'm really starting to hate The Void, every time I'm having a decent dual I end up being taken away!" The grey-skinned man declared mostly to himself before blinking as he gazed at the still shocked looks of the DPC.

"**You crushed our TV!"** Ultimate Deadpool exclaimed while pointing at the grey-skinned man and Gilgamesh silently blinked his eyes in confusion of what they were talking about.

"**Aw man! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get decent reception here Gilgamesh!"** Deadpool demanded as he mourned the loss of his TV, Lixilmawl's assistant Xardic suddenly lunging from the shadows and trying to catch him with a Butterfly net again. **"Aw hell! I aint a faerie Dammit! Those stupid nets don't work on me!"** The mercenary declared loudly as he ran from Xardic, Duela laughing loudly as she fell on her back watching the spectacle.

TBC…

AN:

Naruto's Keyblade's…

Dark-Heart…

Soul-Blade…

Void-Gear…

Vorpal-Key…

One-Winged-Angel…

No-Heart…

Lost-Memory…

Genji-Key (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Other Weapons:

Silver-Short-sword…

Silver Throwing Knives…

Blitz (Demonic-Shotgun)…

Gloria (Demonic Knife)…

Genji-Blade (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Glove (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Shield (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Helm (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Armor (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Dragon-Boots (Ability Added, Jump)…


	42. The Mirror Pt 1

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 41**_: _**The Mirror Pt. 1**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(Mirage Arena…)

Xion backed up from Sora and placed her hands on her knees as she let out several breaths. _'He's… a lot more resilient than I thought…'_ The black haired girl thought before reaching up to brush back her hair from her face and looked to see that Sora was smiling, his Kingdom-Key slung over his shoulders. _'How can he always look so happy?'_ She briefly wondered, before shaking her head as she stood up and let out a breath, her eyes closed. "You know, they were right… you are pretty strong…" Xion noted more to herself than anyone, catching Sora by surprise as he reached up and rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Really, and who are they supposed to be?" Sora questioned of the black haired girl and she giggled lightly before closing one eye and crossing her arms behind her back.

"Now that would be telling, now wouldn't it." She noted aloud and Sora pouted for a moment before grinning as he rubbed the back of his head. _'She really is like Kairi from back then, only a little of me is in there too…'_ The brown haired teen noted to himself before leaning forward with a sure smirk across his face.

"So, are you ready to call it quits yet or what?" Sora questioned of the girl who reminded him of both himself and his girlfriend Kairi. Leaning back up the black haired girl took a briefly thoughtful look before twirling TBO in her hand and held it in a forward grip. _'What do you think, Roxas?'_ She wondered while mentally asking the Keyblade what it thought and felt a warmth surround her before her spellbinders formed out of her skin, glowing brilliantly as soon as they did and confusing Sora.

"Really… so you think we should keep going forward?" Xion questioned while holding up the blade, eyes closed as a voice echoed in her ears. "I could probably get hurt if we do…" She noted more to herself than anyone, and then slowly nodded her head when she heard the voice of her lost friend encouraging her to keep going forward. "Right then, onward we go!" The black haired girl then declared as the darkness suddenly rose from the ground and wrapped around her body, then slowly formed into a familiar suit of black and violet seeker's armor. However Xion then gasped before she reached up to her head and grasped at the sides of her helmeted head. Falling to one knee as The Darkness started to rise off of her body; Xion fell limp as she was lifted off of the ground.

"What the?" Sora wondered before widening his eyes, as Xion seemed to curl into herself while shaking, The Darkness flowing off of her and forming into a wispy aura around her entire body. However she then stood up and spread her arms outwards as if invitingly, a brilliant light forming from her body and spreading outwards. Using his arm to block out the light, Sora then looked on and gaped at the sight of a pair of skeletal looking wings made from a dozen different brightly colored swords that had formed from Xion's back and stretched outwards. The Violet Seeker then raised her head upwards, her arms lowering to her sides before she formed and then pointed TBO at Sora, as if she were an angel casting its judgment.

"_When I was a puppet… a Replica… an Unversed… my creators made me fight my best friend… they made me hurt him… so I could become like you… but he survived and I… I was forgotten… but as for you, Sora… you I'll hurt for myself…"_ Xion stated simply before crouching in midair and lunging down at the brown haired teen. Rolling out of the way, Sora quickly turned towards the girl with wide eyes as she turned in midair and landed on her feet. Xion then lifted TBO and leaned it along her shoulders before lunging towards Sora and twisting into an awkward looking series of slashes with both her keyblade _**and**_ her wings. Cursing lightly under his breath Sora twisted and turned around the awkward swings of her blades and wings before kicking back and off of the girl, landing into a crouch.

"Fine then, if that's how you want it…" Sora noted more to himself before closing his eyes and bringing a shining light into himself. His clothes changing colors when he did, his clothes being mostly red with more yellow on his shoes and white gloves, seeming unchanged other than that, the small gold crown still resting on his head. "Then let me show you my Limit-Drive-Form!" The brown haired youth stated while pointing his Kingdom-Key towards the girl and she shook her head before spreading out her arms and rising back up into the air, the winds around her swirling outwards.

"_Now you'll see…"_ The Violet Seeker declared as she then gripped TBO with both hands before lunging at Sora in an aerial version of his Sonic-Blade attack. Rolling out of the way, the brown haired boy then twisted his arm forward; flinging his Keyblade in a Strike-Raid attack that connected with Xion and knocked her back a bit. Shaking her head, the Violet Seeker fell back to the ground before running towards Sora with her wings folded on her back. Swinging TBO in an over handed arc, the girl then turned as Sora easily dodged and formed a Fireball that impacted with her side, knocking her away as her wings broke into dozens of blades that scattered all around the arena. Moving into a crouch, Xion then held her hand upwards and formed a ball of Darkness over it.

Frowning to himself, Sora wondered what was next before watching as The Darkness spread outwards to blind him. Forming a light from his Keyblade to cut through The Darkness, Sora then saw Xion form her original Keyblade, Midnight-Sonata into her hand and then swing the weapon upwards. The weapon stretched outwards, shifting and morphing to Sora's great shock before it created a vaguely scythe shaped weapon that she still held like it was a Keyblade, only with two hands. Moving quickly, Xion lunged at Sora and swung the weapon in several arcs, the brown haired teen twisting and rolling out of the way before swinging at her, only for her to flip back and float in the air.

"_How's this?"_ Xion declared while pointing the weapon forward, light gathering at the end of her blade before it was shot outwards towards a surprised Sora. _'That's my Ragnarok!'_ He thought before mentally cursing as he lunged forward, running from the spheres of light as they followed after him, then twisting on his heel and forming a reflective barrier that sent the light flying in all directions. However Sora then widened his eyes as Xion came at him, swinging her Scythe like weapon at him in wide arcs. However Sora then noticed that the girl followed her arcs, literally moving with them to increase their overall power.

'_If she swings right she allows her body to follow it, if she swings forward she moves into a forward jump and swings it back down at me.'_ The Brown haired Keyblade-Wielder thought to himself as he moved around the Violet-Seekers attacks and then twisted around her. Crouching back, Sora then lunged forward and started to swing into her from behind before kicking off of her and twisting into a swing of his key, sending a fireball that connected with the girl and sent her skidding forward. _'I hope that was it, this is seriously starting to get out of hand here.'_ Sora thought to himself with a worried frown, and yet Xion stubbornly got back up, stumbling for only a moment before turning around to face him yet again.

'_Well, I'll give her one thing, she sure can take a beating…'_ Sora thought to himself before watching as Xion tossed Midnight-Sonata up into the air and crouched down on all fours. The Keyblade then came in contact with her back, before splitting and forming into an extra set of arms, Sora gaping when it did so. However even that didn't prepare him for while Xion's new arms formed Two-Become-One into their grip and tossed it into the air, the second keyblade splitting into four separate curved blades that dug into the ground around her. Standing up, Xion then gripped each of the four swords with her now four arms before swinging them all at the same time and taking an eerily familiar stance with them.

'_Whoa! Where did she learn how to do that!'_ Sora inwardly demanded, while also wishing that he could do such impressive tricks with the Kingdom-Key. Shaking his head, Sora then watched Xion crouch down, light gathering under her before she jumped straight into the air. Looking up, Sora then did a tuck and roll out of the way as she came down swinging her four blades at where he'd been only a moment before. Turning to her, Sora quickly lunged at her, only for one of her arms to block his attack while she swung her other blade at him, throwing him back where he skidded on his heels for a moment.

Xion then crouched down and jumped into a flip, swinging her blades in wild arcs as Sora twisted and turned in any way he could to avoid being sliced and diced by the Violet Seeker. Pushing himself back, Sora then frowned while Xion began to hover over the ground, bringing her arms inwards before throwing them all outwards and sending out a large ring of light pillars towards Sora. _'It's that "Salvation" thing again!'_ Sora noted while rolling between two of the pillars and then lunging at Xion as she slowly lowered herself back down to the ground. Jumping up, Sora swung his Keyblade at the Violet-Seeker once more; barely managing to avoid her arms he connected with her helmet, causing her to stumble to the side for a moment.

Quickly recovering, Xion then formed light along each of her blades before lunging at Sora. Moving into a wild swing with each of her blades, the brown haired teen barely managing to avoid being cut into pieces, before Xion then flipped back and spread them all out. _"This'll finish you off…"_ She stated darkly while flipping back at Sora with a downward swing of her glowing blades. While Sora managed to avoid being cut up by the attack, the force of it still managed to knock him back, causing him to shake his head before frowning as he looked to the Violet-Seeker. _'That was my Ars-Arcanum…'_ He noted to himself before flipping up and onto his feet before crouching back and lunging at the Violet-Seeker once more.

Twisting around each of the slashes of her swords, Sora then twisted into a low swing of his Kingdom-Key that connected with Xion's chin. The force of the blow knocked her off her feet and sent her helmet flying off as she landed on her back. Twisting onto herself, Xion pushed herself back up to her feet before shaking her head, her eyes a familiar burnt-amber color, which narrowed onto Sora. Lunging at the brown haired teen, Xion took several swings at him yet again, only for him to skip back before lunging forward. Taking a swing, Sora sent the girl skidding back, her blades falling from her hands and back as she then fell to her knees and panted heavily.

"So… it's still not enough…" She whispered before raising up both of her hands and forming yet another sphere of darkness that spread outwards in waves. "But I can't give up now!" She declared as she was enveloped in shadows, Sora taking a step back as a helmet formed over her head and two long violet colored ribbons trailed out from under her scarf. She then threw TBO into the air and it quickly shifted while falling onto it, flowing out along her body to become Armor over her Dark-Armor. Her boots were also changed, becoming pointed with sharp silver metal forming a triangular piece at her toes and a sharp blade forming at her heel and turning the boots into high-heels.

Her new helmet still had a black glass look with a silver chin guard, it also still had the two blades that formed "hair" at the back of her neck and two more that came off of it like Aqua's armor from the sides, however it also had a strange red-cross formed onto it that resembled a crown and formed into a horn at the front, while the keychain of TBO had extended into a long ponytail that trailed behind her. Also added from TBO was a suit of body-armor over her torso with the Nobody-Crest over her chest only flipped to where it formed a Heart, black and white checkered wrist-bands had also formed over her wrists before forming spiked armor over to her arms that made thickened pauldrons over her shoulders and two long ribbons forming from underneath her black scarf.

Xion then raised her hands and formed both Midnight-Sonata and split the one Keyblade into two swords, then stood up and cracked her neck. _"C'mon!"_ She then declared while crouching down and lunging towards Sora with a swing of her blades, the brown haired teen blocking and gritting his teeth as he held her back. Shoving her back and then jumping away from her, Sora then brought a hand to his chest while feeling out for Goofy around the Mirage-Arena. _'Let's hope this works…'_ He thought while feeling Firion nearby and drew strength from both of him, his clothes changing to show a silver, black, and white pattern on them that seemed to surprise Xion.

Holding out his hands, Sora then formed Oath-Keeper and Oblivion and swung his arms outwards, the keys following the movements of his arms. "Alright, this ends here!" Sora declared and Xion nodded her head silently before both lunged forward and connected their blades. Smirking to himself, Sora moved back and out of the way, Xion stumbling forward before grunting as Sora swung his arms into and through her, causing her to grunt in pain. Catching his blades with her own, Xion then crouched and jumped up before kicking off of Sora and flipping into the air. Stopping herself in midair, Xion then formed a massive ball of darkness bellow herself where Sora was standing.

Smirking to himself, Sora crouched down for a moment before jumping up into the air and stood across from the girl with a stern look on his face. Growling lightly, Xion clenched her fists on her Keyblades before pointing them outwards at her sides. _"Get ready, Sora!"_ She ordered loudly as beams of light shot out of her blades and formed into an area around a surprised Sora before her was hit by a massive blast of energy that sent him flying back into the opposite wall of the arena. _'Trinity Limit too?'_ Sora noted with a mental groan as he pulled himself out of the wall of the Arena before kicking himself toward the Violet-Seeker once more. Seeing him coming, Xion swung both of her keyblades in wide arcs, sending blades of shadows flying towards the brown haired teen.

Moving around them, Sora swung his keyblades into Xion's and locked his blades into hers, both teens hovering over the ground before Xion brought her feet up and placed them onto Sora's chest. _'Wait… she's wearing bladed heels… oh man this is __**really**__ gonna hurt.'_ Sora realized and then grunted in pain as Xion kicked off of his chest and flipped in the air to land in a low crouch on the ground below. Grimacing in pain, Sora brought a hand to his bleeding chest before shaking his head and allowing himself to fall to the ground and stand across from her with a frown. Staring off for only a moment, Sora then lunged at the Violet Seeker, twisting out of the way of an attack and countering with his own series of swipes with his free blades.

Kicking back from him, Xion threw her arms to her sides with a barely suppressed snarl. _"Is that all you got?"_ She taunted before bringing joining TBO and Midnight Sonata at the hilt and twirling them over her head. Shooting a beam of light into the air, Xion then twirled the joined blade once more before swinging it at Sora. Several beams of light where then shot down from the original large one and Sora mentally cursed while flying around them and towards where Xion was hovering in the air. "Lets go!" Sora declared while swinging both of his Keyblades in a Strike-Raid, only to control them from a distance and bring them both outwards from a confused Xion. Bringing his arms inward, Sora quickly directed the blades at Xion from her sides.

Widening her eyes as the blades came at her, the girl was sliced into by the blades repeatedly, Sora still controlling them before they connected and knocked her onto her back. Rising back up as Sora motioned his blades upwards, Xion gripped her blades tightly and took a shaky step forward, only for Sora to bring both of his blades down, slicing clean through her helmet. Dropping her keyblades to her sides, Xion then reached up and gripped the sides of her helmet before it fell in two and dropped to her sides as Darkness rose up around her. The girl then took a step back before falling to her knees as the remains of her helmet suddenly faded into sparks of light, the ribbons on her shoulders and the modifications to her boots fading out as well.

"Xion! You okay?" Sora questioned seeing her like that, his clothes flashing as he was returned to normal, Kingdom Key in hand, and she blinked her eyes for a moment before looking up with a soft smile.

"Looks like… I'm not going to be fading away this time…" She said mostly to herself as the darkness subsided around her and she pushed herself back up onto her feet. Taking an inhale of breath through her nose, the black haired girl then brushed some hair from her face before smiling brightly towards Sora. "Thanks, that was a lot of fun." She offered while turning on her heel and walking away, a Dark-Corridor opening in her path. Coming to a stop, she then turned and grinned widely towards the brown haired teen. "I hope we can do it again some time." She finished and then quickly ran into the Dark-Corridor, leaving Sora to stand there with a thoughtful look on his face…

Voice: **One Thousand Years ago, superstition and the sword ruled. It was a time of darkness. It was a world of fear. It was the age of Gargoyles. Stone by day, warriors by night, we were betrayed by the humans we had sworn to protect. Frozen in stone by a magic spell for a thousand years… Now we are in Manhattan… the spell is broken, and we live again! We are defenders of the night. We are Gargoyles**!

(?)

In a museum in a vast city, a guard walks towards a large door way and flips a sign from Open to Closed. Across the street, perched atop a high building, a woman watches through a pair of binoculars and smirks darkly. Dropping them, she then crouches down before jumping into the air, large wings unfurling as she glides towards the museum. Within, the guard from before stands across from a female guard with glasses, his arms folded behind his back. "Okay, front doors locked, all of the laser grids are on, you go on inside." The guard tells her and she silently nods her head while turning and walking off. "And don't get too close to the displays." The guard orders as the woman walks into a darkened room, ceiling lights illuminating specific artifacts.

Stopping before one of them, a large mirror, and the woman briefly strikes a pose before it, one hip cocked to the side and a hand on her head. However she then turns when she hears a racket coming from the main lobby, where a large blue skinned creature is quickly disposing of the male guard, and then rushes off to investigate what is going on. However she never notices her reflection is still within the mirror for a moment, before quickly fading out of existence. Just as the woman leaves, another enters, running on three taloned toes a blue-skinned female with wings bats away the rope around the mirror from before with a grunt. Approaching it, the female then raises her arms to block out a bright light from the returning female guard.

"Halt Police!" The female guard declared and the red haired creature narrowed its eyes at the familiar voice. Lowering her arms the creature's eyes began to glow a sinister red as she glared at the woman.

"You! Most useless member of a craven puny race!" The creature stated angrily while the black haired woman narrowed her eyes while keeping her gun and flashlight trained on the red head. "You think _**you**_ can stop me?" The red head demanded of the black haired woman, only to halt at a familiar voice.

"Possibly not…" The deep baritone voice noted more to itself than her and her eyes dimmed back to a deep coal black as a shadow appeared on the wall behind the black haired woman. A mere second later a large purple-skinned male of the same species as the red head walked up beside of the black haired woman. "But I _**can**_." He noted in a dark tone while he and the black haired woman circled to either side of the red head. Taking a few steps back while looking around, the red head then grabbed a large golden statue from the side and hefted it up with amazing strength. Hurling the artifact at the black haired woman, the red head saw the purple skinned male quickly lunge to intercept it and turned and ran out of the room.

Entering into the main lobby, the blue-skinned female heard the footsteps of the large purple male heading towards her and quickly turned and pushed yet another large golden artifact over. The purple male widened his eyes as it fell on top of him, almost knocking him over as he ducked to catch it while the red head quickly ran away. Spotting a glass case filled with spears and other ancient weapons, the red headed female smashed it open and took one of the spears before quickly running off as the purple male continued to give chase. Entering into a large room with glass windows to one side and what looked like ancient Egyptian tombs down the center row, the red head turned on her heel to face the purple behemoth as he jumped into the air and came down near her.

However seeing no point to a battle, the blue-skinned female quickly turned once more and jumped out of the window and quickly moved into an all out run. The purple male quickly followed after the red head, lunging after her on all fours with the black haired guard from before jumping out of the museum and then quickly running after him. However back inside, two men rappel down from the ceiling and enter into the room with the mirror, soon touching down before it. Both were dressed in similar attire made for the function of their profession as thieves, however one was short and stout, the other was more toned and athletic looking.

"I'll say one thing for the lady, she sure does her homework." The stouter of the two noted to himself before waving his partner over. "Lets go." He ordered and his partner tossed the rope they had used over to him, the stout man pulling it down with a flick of his wrist as the thin man knelt down and brought out his backpack. Opening it up he then pulled out a large white cloth and he and his partner brought it over to the mirror before covering it up. Closing it all around, the thin man then picked up his backpack while he and the stout man then hefted up the mirror and carried it out of the museum without incident.

Meanwhile, the redhead from before runs towards a spire with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics carved into it, the growl of her purple-skinned pursuer echoing behind her. Jumping twice to gain some distance, the blue-skinned woman then turned with a smirk while holding her spear at the ready. The purple skinned male came to a stop across from her, however was quickly followed by the black haired guard from before who trained her gun onto the red head. Hurling her spear at the two, the purple skinned male pushing the woman out of the way as he caught it out of midair, the redhead wasted no time in jumping onto the spire and digging her claws into it. Climbing up to the very top of the spire, the redhead then opened her wings and flew off into the night with an echoing screech…

Scowling and preparing to give chase, the purple-skinned being was stopped by a hand on his wrist from the black haired guard. "Let her go for now!" She urged and he stilled while looking to her for an explanation, the woman smirking as she let down her long black hair from it's bun. "It's not like we could take her to jail without answering a lot of complicated questions." She noted with a gesture and the purple skinned being let out a breath before crossing his arms.

"At least Demona didn't get the mirror…" He mused more to himself than anyone and the black-haired woman raised a brow, and wondering what was so special about what look like a simple mirror…

(?)

Naruto had never been in so much pain before, his head felt like it was being split in two, and he briefly wondered if maybe he shouldn't travel through Dark-Corridors without his Black-Coat or some Keyblade Armor to protect him from any side effects it might have on him. "Who is he?" A voice questioned and Naruto winced at the volume of the voice, and then realized it hadn't been that loud but his head was pounding like crazy and making _**everything**_ seem louder by default. Groaning lightly, the blond haired youth raised a hand to his head and grimaced as it still felt like he'd had an elephant sitting on it for some reason.

"Hey, I think he's starting to come too." A rather high voice noted and Naruto could barely notice a presence near him that probably shouldn't be.

"Oi! Be given' 'em some room! Looks like the lad's been through quite a bit." A deeply accented voice noted aloud and the blond haired teen opened a bleary eye to see several… well… creatures, standing around him and looking down at him.

First was an old stout one, his skin being tan with a scarred / blinded left eye that had yellowed, white hair flowing down his back while a white beard came from his chin, three small horns in rows formed up either side of his forehead from his brow, while his large pointed ears came out from his hair, his own wings looked much like the big one's, right down to the inner ridges, however were slightly tattered at the edges, the membrane being brown on the outside and a ruddy orange inside, he also had pitch black eyes, while his hands, elbow spikes, tail, digitigrade legs, and feet, were virtually identical to those of the big one in basic structure.

He wears a tough looking brown leather jerkin with a pair of old steel pauldrons on his shoulders, steel manacles over his wrists, with a pair of orange trousers, a light brown loincloth with a thick black belt and a large gold buckle, a curved sword placed at his side, his lower legs having an odd leather placed over them to hold his trousers tight on his lower legs.

Next came three younger ones, who were of the same species as the first. The first of the trio was a red skinned Gargoyle with a wiry build, pitch black eyes with a long beak rather than a mouth, a mane of white hair flowing from his head with two long horns, his own triangular shaped wings appearing more pterodactyl like than the others with three claws at the ends like small hands, oddly he has no extra spikes on his body, but his digitigrade legs, hands, feet, and tail are nearly identical to the first one in basic structure. This one wore a blue loincloth of the same stile as the other, with a thick black belt holding it on.

Next was the smallest of the creatures, who had khaki green skin with large eyes, a pair of fangs coming up over his upper lip, his brows having a single spiked ridge and a completely bald head, his pointed ears sticking out prominently, his eyes are a deep pitch black like the others, while his hands, digitigrade legs, and tail were yet again identical to the others, however his wings made Naruto think of a flying squirrel, being that they were attached to his arms and legs, the inside being a pale color, while the outside was olive, and a single ridge formed from under his arms to make a talon at the side of his own wings. His wings were pierced however, allowing the small Gargoyle to wear a dark-grey colored loincloth with a thick black belt like the red one did.

Next was a large and _clearly_ overweight light-blue colored one, his head was bald like the last, only he had a row of spikes forming along the middle of it, fin like ears unlike the others, a pair of fangs coming up over his upper lip like the last one, his wings were bat like with a single claw at their apex and two ridges along the inner membrane, they were green on the inside and a near black color on the outside, he also has a pair of small barbs coming from his knees unlike the rest, but has the same taloned hands, pitch black eyes, digitigrade legs, and feet as the others. He wears a dark-grey loincloth like the last Gargoyle only with a thick black belt with a brass buckle.

Last among them is a creature that vaguely resembled a dog in its basic structure, only _**much**_ larger. This creature is on all fours, its skin is dark blue with a light blue underbelly, a pair of fangs coming up over its upper lip, two spikes coming from its brow, fin like ears, pure white eyes, and three spikes running across its back, with three claws on its hind feet and four on its front feet, and its tail is very short.

Blinking for several moments, Naruto had to fight the urge to jump up and form his keyblades as he saw the strange looking creatures. _'Where the hell am I? And what are these things?'_ He wondered to himself while his eyes darted all around, trying to find something to identify where he was. The area was clearly inside of a clock-tower, with numerous large turning cogs and gears, the large glowing window with silhouetted clock hands also being a key factor, he idly noted a TV and reclining chair nearby, as well as what looked like a mauled bone that probably belonged to the large and vaguely dog-like creature he'd seen before. Speaking of, he then stiffened as the said creature approached him and then sniffed him for a moment before suddenly licking him.

'_Oi, he's sure affectionate…'_ The blond noted as the beast continued to lick him, the blond having to push him back as it became too much. "Oh off 'im Bronx ye' great beast!" The oldest of the creature grumbled out while pulling the dog-beast, or "Bronx" as Naruto figured he was named, off of the blond. Groaning for a moment, Naruto then moved his hands up and pushed himself up off the ground and moved a leg up, only to stumble forward when he couldn't quite get his footing. _'Ow… and what is wrong with me?'_ The blond haired youth wondered to himself with a groan before seeing the red skinned being above him.

"Need a hand up?" He questioned while offering a hand and Naruto graciously took the offered limb and was pulled up onto his feet. Stumbling for a few moments, the blond then held out his arms and blinked when he realized he was standing on his toes. Looking down, the blond nearly gaped upon seeing he now had only two toes, both of which were sharp looking talons with metal caps over them. He also noted that his skin had turned as white as paper, and that of all the things he could have he seemed to have a tail. Turning to confirm this, the blond encountered a wing instead and blinked while staring at it for a moment.

'_Okay… this is new…'_ Naruto noted to himself before looking to his hands, which were also now taloned with metal caps over each of them, black leather gold lined gauntlets covering his forearms. "What happened to me… and… and where am I?" Naruto questioned while looking around the clock tower and the light-blue colored creature from before decided to step in.

"You're in Manhattan, but as for what happened to you we don't know, course it's nice seein another Gargoyle an' all, but it's kind of weird how you just appeared out of that black vortex." The blue "Gargoyle" explained and Naruto was thankful for at least having a name for them before the khaki colored Gargoyle hopped over to him with wide innocent eyes.

"Hey! Speaking of that portal, was it magic?" The green creature questioned and Naruto tried to take a step back, nearly tripping over when he did. However upon looking back, Naruto gave a grateful look to the red-skinned being as it helped him stand up once more, and then looked back to the green one.

"Uh… yeah… I guess it is a sort of magic." Naruto replied then noticed his voice was a bit deeper and more ominous than it usually sounded. _'Probably a side-effect of being in this form or something.'_ The blond mentally decided before yelping as the green skinned being grinned widely at his answer.

"Really? Aw wow cool! Do you think you could teach me to do magic?" The green creature questioned and Naruto blinked for a moment before the old one shook his head and let out a breath.

"Oi, the lot of ye' leave the lad alone, or at least be courteous enough to introduce ye'selves to 'im." The old Gargoyle ordered while crossing his arms and the green skinned being nodded his head.

"I'm Lexington." He stated and the blue one walked over, munching on a leg of lamb or something else that was large and meaty…

"I'm Broadway." He noted and Naruto had to resist the urge to use a few jokes that involved Broad and being in his way. Looking to the red one, Naruto saw him let out a breath before patting him on the back.

"Call me Brooklyn." The now named Brooklyn offered and Naruto nodded his head before turning to the old one.

"I be called Hudson, Lad." The old Gargoyle noted before kneeling down and patting the large beast known as Bronx on the head and causing him to croon. "And this great beast be Bronx." Hudson noted while patting Bronx on his back and he let out a ruff, Naruto smiling softly before grinning as they looked at him strangely.

"My name is Naruto." The blond offered and saw a surprised look appear on the faces of Lexington and Broadway. "Was it something I said?" Naruto asked while looking to Brooklyn and the red Gargoyle nodded his head with the same look on his face.

"Back in our day Gargoyles didn't have names, we just called each other friend." Brooklyn replied before a look crossed his features while crossing his arms over his chest. "And sometimes brother and sister." Brooklyn added as if more an afterthought than anything, Hudson humming while gazing at the young "Gargoyle" that had appeared right out of thin air in their new home.

He was tall by human standards topping off at a solid six feet two inches, with stark white skin contrasting greatly against his bright blond spiky hair that was swept back with his bangs still framing his eyes and face, his pointed ears poking out of said hair, he has a pair of horns that come from his forehead and wrap over to stop at the base of his neck, to small ridge-spikes coming from the sides of his brows, pitch black eyes, three blue tattoos like claw marks on his right cheek, his wings are chiropteran with three clawed "hands" at their apex, the inside of the membrane is grey and the outside black, he has spiked barbs coming from his knees and elbows, a long tail that ended with black spiked barbs growing off of it, his hands end in four talons, his legs are digitigrade in design and his feet end in two toes, unusual to Hudson to say the least.

He wears a sleeveless mesh shirt that covers some of his neck with an opening for his wings and thickened leather strips over his shoulders and at his sides, a pair of black leather gold lined gauntlets over his forearms / hands, with metal caps over his talons for added attacking power, his completed Spellbinder and Spell-Rings still present on his right wrist and fingers, a pair of black bicycle shorts under a tattered white loincloth with black edging, with two white-belts wrapped around his waist with two straps hanging from his hips and crossing under two large pouches at his lower back, segmented metal armor over the tip of his tail with holes for the spiked barbs, black sock like cloths over his feet that leave his toes and heels free, metal caps over his toes, and two straps crossing his chest with a familiar heart shaped symbol in the center of them.

Smirking as he saw the symbol, the old gargoyle let out a hearty chuckle as he walked over to the "White-Gargoyle" and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well I'll be, you be a Keybearer, right boyo?" The elder Gargoyle questioned and Naruto raised a brow while looking to him strangely.

"Yeah…" He replied and the older Gargoyle grinned once more, only to shake his head as The Trio moved around them.

"What's a 'Keybearer', Hudson?" Lexington questioned while Broadway and Brooklyn nodded their heads in agreement. Rolling his eyes, Hudson let out a breath before turning to The Trio and crossing his arms behind his back.

"A Keybearer be to all de' worlds out there what we be to de' castle, protectors. They protect the worlds from threats. So be given our honored guest a wee bit a room, seems he hasn't quite gotten used to walking wit' his new legs yet." Hudson noted with an amused looking smirk as Naruto grunted while placing his hands on his knees and letting out a breath as he slowly started to walk again. Frowning, Brooklyn looked to the older Gargoyle with a raised brow and slipped over to him.

"What do you mean "new legs", isn't he a Gargoyle?" The red beaked gargoyle questioned and Hudson nodded his head while watching Naruto get used to his legs.

"Aye, for now, but from what I was told as a wee lad, Keybearers can change d'eir shape to suit specific worlds. One I knew was in human form, but his apprentice turned into a Gargoyle like blondie there." Hudson replied while nudging towards where Naruto was trying to get used to his two-taloned toes. Humming for a moment, the red gargoyle reached a claw up and rubbed at his chin before realization struck him.

"So he's like one of the Third Race, a shape-shifter." Brooklyn guessed and Hudson mulled that over for a moment before nodding his head.

"Aye, some are, not all of d'em are as good at shape-shifting as others, a few couldn't even do it from what I learned." Hudson replied while they all turned to see Naruto on all fours, struggling to move around as his wings got in the way. "Oi, furl your wings lad! That'll make things a bit easier." Hudson urged and Naruto blinked before tilting his head and Brooklyn chuckled lightly.

"He means fold them over your back." Brooklyn started before tapping his chin and then showed him by folding his wings around his shoulders like a cape. "Like this." The red gargoyle offered and Naruto made an O with his mouth before doing as told and grinning as he then crouched down and lunged forward on all fours, soon jumping onto the side of a wall and climbing up it, his sharp claws digging into the walls easily.

"I think he's enjoying himself…" Broadway noted to himself before watching as Naruto jumped from the wall and onto one of the turning gears above them with a laugh.

"Not bad, he's gettin' used to his new legs faster than I thought he would." Hudson noted to himself while stroking his beard, then frowned as Naruto narrowly managed to avoid losing his tail when he jumped through a narrow space. "Oi lad, mind ye' tail if ye' don' want to be losing it!" Hudson shouted at the white-skinned Gargoyle and Naruto grinned while nodding his head as he continued to move around the upper portion of the clock towers mechanics.

"Looks like he's doing better with getting used to his new form than most would." Brooklyn mused to himself while Hudson nodded in agreement before the red skinned Gargoyle lightly whistled as Naruto swung and jump from the many mechanical devices above them. Watching on silently, the Gargoyles then watched the blond above them jump and slip through more mechanics before spinning off of one bar into a flip and falling to the ground. Moving out of the way they watched as he landed in a low crouch before looking up at them with a grin.

"Best form ever!" The blond declared while standing and brushing himself off, Hudson rolling his eyes before spotting a shadow.

"Oi, looks like Elisa and Goliath have returned." He noted aloud while The Trio nodded and Naruto tilted his head for a moment before turning to see whom they meant. What Naruto finds is a pair, one male Gargoyle, and a female human looking down at him with clear surprise on their faces.

The male was a _**big**_ Gargoyle, seven foot tall at the least with a very powerful build, his skin is lavender in color, and his hair is long and dark brown, three talons at the end of his feet, though a smaller one rests at the end of his heel, with digitigrade legs, a long prehensile tail, a pair of massive bat like wings at his shoulder blades with a single talon at the tips of either wing, the membrane of his wings being near black on the outside and purple on the inside, two ridges on the inner membrane of both wings, small barbs are at the ends of his elbows, his hands had three fingers with an opposable thumb though all were clearly talons, with two noticeable ridges on his brow, pointed ears and pitch black eyes, though the rest of him seemed human. He wore only a brown loincloth as clothing, a thick black belt with a gold buckle holding it on.

The female however was a beautiful woman, with long black hair reaching her shoulder blades, bright amber brown eyes, mocha colored skin and a toned athletic build, she wears a black T-shirt under a red jacket, a pair of tight blue jeans and black boots. Naruto just stared at the two silently, eyes wide while looking at the Gargoyle in particular. _'Crap, he could probably tear a full sized horse in half with his bare hands…'_ Naruto noted while looking at the male, then looked to the female and frowned while sniffing the air. _'She's a shadowed princess? It's sort of weird how I seem to land near them every time I enter a new world.'_ Naruto thought to himself while the lavender Gargoyle leaned forward for a moment before quickly looking to Hudson.

"Hudson, what is this… have you truly found another Gargoyle?" He questioned with surprise and the elder shook his head for a moment before he pointed over to the Keyblade crest on Naruto's chest.

"Nay lad, he be a Keybearer in the form of a Gargoyle." Hudson replied and the purple Gargoyle let out a breath before jumping forward to land before Naruto. The blond mentally twitched as he did as he towered over him imposingly. _'Crap, why does this guy have to be so big?'_ The blond haired teen wondered to himself, then blinked as the large Gargoyle gave a curt bow, his wings wrapping around his shoulders.

"Greetings, Keybearer. I am Goliath, leader of this clan. It is our honor to meet you." The now named Goliath offered politely and Naruto managed a nervous grin while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh, right… I'm Naruto. Nice to meet you too." The blond replied while holding out a hand and Goliath took it in a firm shake. However, contrary to what Naruto thought would be a crushing handshake, it was merely firm and he let out a breath while Goliath then crossed his arms. However the human woman, Elisa if he was remembering her name correctly, walked down with a slight frown on her face. Naruto also wondered why yet another Shadowed Princess had an "Alice" related name as Elisa was probably an offshoot of Alicia which was related to Alessa, Alyssa, and the other names that could end up as Alice…

"Alright, what is going on here, is that a Gargoyle or not and what do you mean by keybearer?" Elisa questioned while ticking off fingers and Hudson reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oi, he's only taking de' form of a Gargoyle, he's a Shape-Shifter, and as for Keybearers, d'ey are protectors of de' worlds as we are protectors of de' castle." Hudson replied in explanation and Elisa raised a brow while looking at him with an amused smirk forming across her face.

"Protectors of the worlds? You mean there are more out there besides this one?" She questioned with her head tilted slightly while looking at them and Naruto nodded his head while crossing his arms over his chest.

"There are as many worlds out there as there are stars in the sky." The blond replied while Elisa smirked slightly while rolling her eyes and looking over to Goliath. However seeing the large Gargoyle giving her a serious look she blinked and then looked to each of the other Gargoyles, noticing they weren't kidding either.

"Wait, your serious about that?" She questioned and Hudson nodded his head silently the woman blinking before staring at Naruto strangely. "Wow… So you mean to say that you actually protect _**all**_ those worlds, by yourself?" She asked the blond directly and Naruto snorted before shaking his head.

"No, the worlds are split into three divisions, Light, Dark, and Twilight." Naruto started while holding up three claws and Elisa listened to him silently. "I work in the Dark section, where this world is located, another group work in the Light section, and still more probably work somewhere in the Twilight section. We go from world to world, ensuring that the balance is maintained and no overall threats to all the worlds grow too strong." Naruto explained to Elisa and she took a thoughtful look while biting the nail of her right thumb lightly. She was clearly intelligent as far as Naruto was concerned, and out of all of the Shadowed Princesses, even Sir Integral, seemed to be the sanest.

"Alright so basically you guys are sort of like police for the worlds, each of you are given a different district in which you work, right?" Elisa questioned and Naruto nodded his head while she turned on her heel and started to pace. "Now then, there are three districts for you, and three groups, do you work as a unit or independently?" Elisa questioned while looking over her shoulder and Naruto frowned deeply.

"Independently, The Realm of Light is inhabited by our "Equals and Opposites" Somebodies, while our people in The Realm of Darkness are labeled as simply "Others". Somebodies and Others _**never**_ seem to get along, it goes against our nature and we usually end up fighting with one another. Beings in the Realm of Twilight have no such title as they exist in a harmonious area with little need for Key-Bearers." Naruto replied and Elisa let out a light hum as she continued to mull that over to herself.

"Okay… got it. But if that's the case then what are you doing here, and why exactly do they call you keybearers?" Elisa questioned while turning to face the blond, the younger Gargoyles looking on as they wondered about that as well. Reaching up to rub at the back of his neck for a moment, Naruto considered how to explain what happened before silently nodding his head and held out his hand.

"Well since why I'm here would take a while I'll start off with why we're called Keybearers instead…" He started to say before a flash of light enveloped his hand and Lost-Memory appeared in his grip. "And that's because we carry Keyblades." Naruto offered simply while Brooklyn moved towards the weapon and looked at it for a moment while cupping his chin.

"So it's a sword shaped like a Key?" Brooklyn questioned only for Naruto to lift the keyblade upwards and then close his eyes. Instantly dark-fire formed around the weapon before swirling down its length and stopping short of Naruto's hand. Widening his eyes, Brooklyn let out a low whistle as the flames then formed a sphere at the blades tip before vanishing as Naruto opened his eyes and smirked. "Whoa, that's so not a normal sword…" Brooklyn noted aloud and Naruto nodded his head with a chuckle while leaning the blade into his shoulders. Letting out a breath, Elisa then walked over to Naruto and gave him a stern look.

"That still doesn't explain why you're here." She reminded and Naruto nodded his head for a moment before letting out a breath.

"You might want to get comfortable, 'cause this could take a while…" Naruto noted to himself while rubbing his head, Hudson walking over to the recliner and sitting in it heavily as Naruto began his tale…

(Elsewhere…)

In a darkened part of Mahattan there lays a large wall with a shutter style gate with the words "Private** Keep Out**" in bold letters on the front. Two cameras swivel from side to side at the sides of the gate and focus on a red van as it approaches. The window of the van is lowered and the stout thief from before looks out and presses a buzzer. "Yes." A familiar female voice comes and the man leans forward slightly.

"Oberon sent me." The stout man stated and the shutter gate opened, the man driving inside with the cameras following him. Driving a short way to a rather gothic looking home, the van came to a stop, the back opening as the two thieves carefully carried the large mirror out of it. Moving up a flight of stairs to a large door with a demonic looking face on the front, the men set the mirror down at an angle while the thin man frowned to himself.

"Who lives here anyways, Dracula's daughter?" The thin man questioned with a hand on his head before turning at a screeching sound, the eyes of the demonic face on the door glowing an eerie red. Holding up a hand to stop his partner the stout man looked to him for a brief moment.

"Relax it's okay, I've done this before." He stated while turning back to the door as an envelope came out into the demonic face's mouth.

"Take your money and go… while you still can." The woman's voice echoed ominously as the stout man silently took the envelope and he and his partner turned and walked down the flight of stairs to their van. It was a short while later that The Mirror was brought into the home by the figure, into a large room with a menagerie of artifacts scattered all around it. However, now standing before The Mirror is a familiar shadowed woman with wings, only now there was an X shaped chain over the front of The Mirror easily crossing over it.

The woman is a tall Gargress, and has light-blue skin woman with coal black eyes, a slender yet powerful build, painted red lips, and a shock of spiky crimson red hair on her head reaching down to her waist, she also has spiked spurs coming from her elbows and knees, a pair of massive bat like wings with a purple membrane on the inside and near black on the outside and tiny claws at their apex, a long prehensile tail, three talons for toes with another toe at the back of her heel, three fingers to each hand with a thumb, all talons as well, pointed ears and sharp fangs.

She wears a white halter top that hangs off her right shoulder, a white loincloth with a thick leather belt with a brass buckle, a gold anklet on her right ankle, a gold twisted armband on her right bicep, gold hoop earrings, and a gold tiara over her forehead that slanted into two spikes at her brow before dropping to a low point between her eyes. Gazing at The Mirror silently, the red haired Gargress exhaled a breath before turning on her heel. "So far my plans have always been thwarted, one after the other." The gargress known to many as Demona noted while pounding a fist into her open hand. "But tonight, I take control!" She declared as her eyes began to glow red while holding her talons out menacingly.

Calming for a brief second, Demona then turned and grabbed a silver bell and a gold ring before holding them up before The Mirror. Lightly, Demona tapped the ring into the bell four times, and then moved the objects to her side. "Cum aescerat argentums…" Demona stated in Latin, the surface of The Mirror starting to distort. "Et aurum involare…" She continued while raising a feather and blowing it towards The Mirror. "Postea Puck ad speculum…" She continued as the feather slowly drifted along The Mirror before fading inside of it. "Titania penetrare!" She finished and with a bright green light, something was thrown forward. Raising an arm, Demona blocked out the light while watching and then looked down as the spell finished.

Beneath her and bound in the chains that had been over the mirror is a strange being. He has long white hair, fair skin, long pointed ears and brown eyes, he wears a red gold lined tunic, gold bangles over his wrists, a purple toga over his tunic with a bright yellow sash around his waist, dark blue pants, and red boots with gold lining the top. Looking up slowly, the being narrowed his eyes while glaring at Demona as she smirked down at him…

(Wonderland…)

Alice frowned as she walked with Tira and followed her blond "Other" around her version of Wonderland. _'Why do I feel like stabbing her half the time? It's really rather odd, normally I don't want to stab people, merely monsters, cards, ghosts, and such… and they aren't really people so they don't matter.'_ The dark haired girl thought to herself while Tira looked from Alice to her blond counterpart several times, then reached up and tapped her chin thoughtfully. She had almost instantly noticed the resemblance between the two, even if it was vague it was still there after all, but she also noted the complete and total difference in both personality and temperament between the two girls.

'_I wonder if Master would want me to kill the blond one, she's kind of annoying…'_ Tira thought to herself while she and Alice watched the young one walk forward while humming to herself quietly. _'What's she so damn happy about anyways? This whole world is completely strange, there's no one around but us and the occasional talking animal or plant…'_ The Gloomy Tira noted inside of her head with a mental frown while the perky one leaned over to Alice. "Who is she? She kinda looks like you…" Tira asked quietly and Alice let out a soft sigh before leaning towards the brown haired girl.

"As far as I can tell she's my Other, my counterpart in the realm of Light." Alice replied and Tira made an oh with her mouth before turning to look at the blond haired girl once more. _'Hmmm… Sora and Master are Other's, and Master is blond rather than having brown hair, maybe that's how it works with all Others…?'_ Tira considered then frowned when she noticed that Alice and her Other also had different eyes, while Sora and Naruto had the same eyes. Another oddity was that though there was a resemblance between the girls, Alice, the younger one, looked prettier than the older Alice who had a more tired look to her eyes. She was also more complete in some way, appearing less thin and was also less pale than the older Alice from the realm of darkness. In comparison, Naruto and Sora could easily be mistaken as twins or brothers, yet the Alices couldn't…

'_Course that might just be 'cause she's been in an asylum for years.'_ Tira's Gloomy Side piped in and the happy side seemed to consider this before deeming it as the only explanation with a nod of her head. Staring at Tira, Alice briefly wondered what she was thinking, though shivered at a few arrant thought of what the insane servant of Naruto could possibly come up with. Alice wasn't stupid after all; she knew that above all else, Tira was a mass murderer at best and a psychotic one at worst. There was really no middle ground for Tira, there was either she killed you, or she killed you in the most painful way she could come up with. Honestly, this scared Alice far more than any of the creatures in her mind, because she could see some of her own actions in Tira's…

'_Will I turn out like Miss Tira? A ruthlessly insane Mass-murderer? Or will I become something different… perhaps something even more violent and cruel than even miss Tira, or miss Larxene… maybe… maybe I could even become like Alessa…'_ Alice started to think to herself before reaching up to rub at her arms at a sudden chill, before seeing Tira frown. "Where'd that weird Mirror come from?" The brown haired girl questioned and Alice raised a brow before turning to see her Other in front of a mirror. However she then widened her eyes seeing a reflection of _**her own**_ Wonderland was held within it…

"Little miss I wouldn't go near that if I were you!" Alice called out urgently while walking towards the blond who tilted her head to give her a sidelong glance. "It's very very dangerous in there, and you wouldn't want to enter it." The dark haired girl noted with a nod of her head only to mentally groan at a sudden look from the blond haired girl that she vaguely recognized. _'Oh bother, she's just as stubborn and prideful as I am!'_ She mentally groaned before the blond crossed her arms and turned away from her and a slightly amused looking Tira.

"I don't need to be taken care of, I'm not a little girl anymore I'm almost fourteen!" The blond haired Alice declared and the older Alice still wondered why she was four and a half years older than her before lightly palming her face. She also briefly wondered if she had been that stubborn, though admitted she already was very stubborn, then let out a breath before lowering her arms and sending a stern look at the Other-Alice.

"Well I'm eighteen and a half exactly and I'm telling you not to go in there!" Alice ordered while placing her hands onto her hips before mentally realizing that she had sounded like her mother for a moment. _'Oh Dear God I think I'm becoming Mum… actually that might not be so bad, she was a very pleasant woman, a beautiful mother, and very kind. And I think I'd rather like to have children of my own some day.'_ Alice mused distractedly before blinking and shaking her head of that, actually now that she thought about it rather embarrassing, thought. However she then winced upon seeing a very familiar look cross the blond haired girl's features as she stomped one foot down into the ground with a deep frown.

"I'll do what I like thank you very much!" The blond declared before turning and hopping into the mirror portal, Alice letting out a breath and hanging her head as she went, Tira laughing outright for a moment before covering her mouth with her hand. Looking to the brown haired girl with a pout, Alice then took in then exhaled a breath into her bangs with a frown.

"Come now miss Tira, let us find my Other before she gets into even more trouble… and since she's my Other that's almost assured." Alice stated while walking over to the mirror portal, and then hopped inside, Tira following her with an amused grin on her face. The two came out in a new world, one that gave Alice pause as it looked vaguely like the Mad-Hatter's domain, only larger than she remembered and the Asylum he ran seemed to be missing.

"Hey, I didn't know you had makeup with you…" The brown haired psycho noted while looking at Alice, noting she had on peach lipstick, black eyeliner, and pink-eye-shadow on now. Blinking at that, Alice held up the Vorpal blade and raised a brow while looking at her face, surprised when she noticed she looked much prettier now than she had believed she did before.

"I… I didn't, or I don't… or I mean I didn't do this." Alice stated more to herself than anyone before she noticed she was wearing a different pair of gloves than what she'd had on only a brief time before. Tira also noticed and walked around Alice, looking at the new dress she was wearing appreciatively.

"Wow, how do you change your clothes so fast?" Tira questioned while looking at Alice, the brown haired girl raising a brow before looking down at herself, then widening her eyes at what she found she was wearing.

It was a black leather dress with a V neck with white neck-frill like collar, a Waspie buckled waist-cincher with a harness attached to it, a leather apron with the signs for Saturn and Mercury, replacing the bow of the apron was a green faced clock with rusted brass mechanical wings and two long strips of leather hanging from it, fingerless bicep length black leather gloves with brown straps buckled over them, her usual black and white striped stockings were still present, and last her high-heeled black leather knee-length buckled boots were still present over her feet.

"Oh, oh my! What is this?" Alice questioned aloud with a visible blush on her face, somewhat embarrassed by the black-leather dress, as she'd never even heard of such a thing before.

"I think it looks neat!" Tira offered while watching Alice turn herself around several times while trying to see the clock at the back of her waist. However, Tira's comment did little to calm the pure Dark-Auburn haired girl as she suddenly looked at herself as if scandalized.

"Oh it's even worse than I thought!" The dark haired girl declared and Tira frowned while giving the other girl a flat look.

"And what is _**that**_ supposed to mean?" Tira questioned in what was probably her most sane moment to date, Alice grinning nervously while turning on her heel.

"Nothing! But come miss Tira, we must hurry and find my Other post haste!" Alice said before quickly scurrying off, Tira twitching for a moment before slumping into her stance, her ring-blade hanging on her shoulder.

"I'll show her worse than she thought…" Tira muttered under her breath before following after the dark-auburn haired girl into the depths of The Mad Hatters Domain…

(Manhattan…)

Naruto is sitting with his legs crossed while looking at Brooklyn and Lexington with an amused smirk on his face. He'd long finished explaining his mission and about the soulless but the two members of The Trio seemed more and more curious about him. Well, technically Brooklyn wanted to know about his adventures and the other worlds that lay out there. While Lexington kept asking him about his Spellbinders and the many magical powers he'd obtained. Elisa had headed down into The Police Station to ask about the robbery at the museum as she had a feeling. Goliath and Hudson were both content with the knowledge they had already gained, and Broadway had went to grab something to eat.

However, Naruto couldn't help a small smile as he looked at both Lex and Brook as they continued to ask him questions about either the vastness of the worlds out there, or the powers he could command as a Keybearer. _'Ah, this is actually a nice change of pace, no psychotic villain or ultimate evil planning to destroy this world, just a nice relaxing day… er, night.'_ Naruto mused to himself as it seemed that things in this world, while not exactly simple, were a little better than some of The Dark Worlds he'd visited.

"So this Dante guy was really a half demon warrior?" Brooklyn questioned with interest and Naruto silently nodded his head. "And you actually managed to fight the guy one on one?" The red skinned Gargoyle questioned yet again and Naruto just grimaced slightly before shivering.

"Well technically I think he was holding back quite a bit so it wasn't exactly like I really won or anything… but yeah." Naruto replied and Brooklyn nodded his head before Lex moved over to the blond haired youth's side with a wide grin.

"You said you could shape-shift at will, could you show us?" Lex questioned and Naruto smirked before changing into a fog that flowed across the room before reforming into a bat that then flew around the room screeching loudly. Moving over to where he'd been sitting before, Naruto changed into a wolf and landed on all fours before sitting down and changing back into a Gargoyle with a grin. "Cool!" Lex declared while Naruto rolled his eyes and then looked to Elisa as she climbed back up into the clock tower with a deep frown on her face.

"Well captain Chaves just confirmed it, Demona was a decoy, thieves took The Mirror while we were chasing her around the park." Elisa explained as she walked up several flights of steps to approach the Gargoyles.

"I should have expected such deviousness from her." Goliath noted while crossing his arms under his cloaked wings and Naruto frowned to himself. Goliath had explained their origins to him as well, Demona seemed to be a sour spot for both him and a source of anger for Brooklyn, the woman sounding like a few people he'd known in his day.

"So how bad is this, what can she do with an antique mirror?" Elisa questioned of her friends and Hudson lifted his remote to turn off his TV.

"It's not just a mirror, Lass…It's _**Titania's**_ Mirror." Hudson stated while turning to look at Elisa, Bronx looking with him. "Titania, Queen of The Third Race." Hudson continued and Naruto reached up and scratched his head, Elisa looking confused.

"Third Race?" They both questioned at the same time before looking to one another, and then turned to Broadway as he held up a talon.

"Yeah you know, Gargoyles, Humans, and Oberon's Children." Broadway offered while Lexington popped up and looked at the two.

"I thought everybody knew this." Lexington noted while raising his claws and Brooklyn nodded while holding up a talon.

"Yeah, that guy Shakespeare wrote a play about them…" Brooklyn stated before rubbing at his chin thoughtfully, then his eyes lighted up as he remembered it. "A Midsummer Nights Dream." He offered and Naruto seemed hopelessly lost for once, while Elisa looked unsure of this. Letting out a breath through his nose, Goliath looked from Elisa to Naruto and then explained himself.

"Scotsmen called them The Fair Folk, The Vikings called them Dark Elves." Goliath explained while un-caping his wings and allowing them to stretch a bit behind his back. "They are Changelings, Shape-Shifters, creatures of Pure Magic, and their possessions like The Mirror, are vessels of Great Power." Goliath explained and Elisa couldn't help chuckling with a shake of her head as she looked to her friends.

"Wait, wait, wait… Shape-Shifters, Elves, Faeries." Elisa stated while shaking her head then looked around at the serious looks on her friends faces. "You mean they're real?" She questioned with a look of surprise and Naruto suddenly rolled his eyes before looking over to Hudson as he shrugged his shoulders.

"As real as I am, if de' stories be true." Hudson replied and Naruto nodded his head before looking over to Elisa seriously.

"You know a clan of Gargoyles, a Keybearers who actually can shape-shift, and have seen magic used first-hand, yet Faeries are somehow unbelievable?" Naruto asked the black haired woman and she crossed her arms while giving him a look.

"Hey, I've actually seen those things with my own eyes, I've never seen a Faerie so excuse me for a little skepticism on my part." Elisa replied and Naruto inclined his head, understanding her point before reaching up to cup his chin. _'Something tells me that things are about to get more interesting…'_ Naruto mused inwardly while sniffing the air and frowned when he could detect a bit of The Soulless scent wafting with the breeze…

(Demona's Home…)

Back in Demona's home the said Gargress stands over a familiar white haired being with a smirk, hands on her hips. The white haired being from before struggles with his bonds, attempting to break them for a short while before finally ceasing. Letting out a quick breath the white haired being crossed his arms around the chains and then glared at Demona. "Is this how you welcome all of your guests?" He questioned pointedly of the Gargress and Demona smirked towards the white haired being.

"Any who might turn on me…" She noted before taking a step forward and glaring into his eyes. "And you're not a guest, you serve The Human, now you can serve Me." She stated with a claw to her chest and the white haired being smirked to himself with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Serving humans is fun, they have a sense of humor…" He noted more to himself than anyone and then frowned while looking at her. "You have none." He added and Demona moved forward and poked him in the chest.

"Perhaps not Puck, but I have you." She stated while grabbing the chains he was bound by and lifting him up into the air with a dark smile on her face…

TBC…

AN:

Naruto's Keyblade's…

Dark-Heart…

Soul-Blade…

Void-Gear…

Vorpal-Key…

One-Winged-Angel…

No-Heart…

Lost-Memory…

Genji-Key (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Other Weapons:

Silver-Short-sword…

Silver Throwing Knives…

Blitz (Demonic-Shotgun)…

Gloria (Demonic Knife)…

Genji-Blade (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Glove (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Shield (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Helm (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Armor (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Dragon-Boots (Ability Added, Jump)…


	43. The Mirror Pt 2

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing within, save a couple ideas and possible OC's, but there's to freaking much to name so just go with that…

_**NU**_: _**Birth of the Seekers**_…

_**Chapter 42**_: _**The Mirror Pt. 2**_…

Normal Speech: "Yo…"

Normal Thoughts: '_Curiouser and Curiouser_…'

Demon Speech: "**Pathetic Ningen**…"

Demon Thoughts: '_**I hate this cage**_…'

Seeker Speech: [_Time to Die_…]

(Manhattan…)

Naruto sat watching the Gargoyles, specifically Brooklyn as a sudden thought came to the red skinned Gargoyle. "Hey, wouldn't it be great to be a shape-shifter?" Brooklyn suddenly questioned and Naruto rolled his eyes, the whole changing forms thing more or less boring for the blond haired youth.

"We wouldn't have to hide, we could fit in anywhere." Lex noted while resting on his side with an arm over Bronx, Broadway nodding his head in agreement with the green gargoyle.

"We could find new friends, maybe even… love." Broadway noted aloud while Naruto spotted Elisa and Goliath glancing at one another and mentally smirked. _'Those two obviously have a thing for one another.'_ The White-Seeker mentally decided while looking to Hudson as the old Gargoyle suddenly let out a grunt.

"Be careful what you wish for lad." The elder Gargoyle noted sagely and Naruto nodded his head in agreement with him.

"In my opinion, if a friend doesn't like you for who you are, then they aren't real friends at all. You shouldn't have to change yourself just to get people to like you." Naruto noted with a nod of his head and Lex leaned back and gave the blond seeker a flat look.

"Says the guy who can change into anything he wants." Lex reminded and Naruto inclined his head, guessing that his opinion didn't carry much weight on the matter as he actually could shape shift if he felt like it.

"No, Naruto is correct." Goliath stated while walking forward, the young Gargoyles looking to their leader as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Appearances can be greatly deceiving; it is not what is on the outside that matters it is who we are on the inside that truly matters." Goliath stated and Brooklyn frowned while leaning back into a wall.

"Yeah well, what's on the inside of us don't matter if people are just gonna start running away screaming…" The red skinned Gargoyle noted and Naruto winced in sympathy, before frowning in thought as he wondered if there was some way he could help his new friends with their little problem…

(Demona's Home…)

"Well let's just get this over with, shall we?" Puck pleaded while floating sideways and then zipped back and flew around Titania's Mirror for a moment. "How can I be of Service, hum?" The Changeling questioned while floating before Demona, the red haired Gargress frowning as she considered her options, which only served to make Puck impatient. "Out with it I haven't got all night!" The Changeling declared and Demona scowled while glaring at the white haired elf dangerously, causing him to back up a short ways with an amused grin.

"You've got all millennium if I choose!" She stated before cupping her chin with a thoughtful expression on her face, while Puck floated back in front of her. "I'm too vulnerable during the day…" Demona finally decided while Puck took to floating around her with an amused look on his face. "I don't want to turn to stone anymore." Demona thought aloud and Puck rolled his eyes while still floating around the room.

"Of course you want to stroll down fifth avenue in the sunshine, I'm sure you'll fit right in." Puck noted mockingly as he moved to hover before her and Demona tensed up before snarling at the white-haired changeling.

"I could if there were no blasted humans!" Demona declared angrily, Puck quickly shooting away from her as she shook a fist at him. However her eyes then opened and a sudden flash of realization seemed to strike her. "Yes, Puck." She noted while bringing her hands up towards her chest and clenched her fists. "I want you to get rid of the humans…" Demona ordered and then brought her hands outwards in a wiping motion. "**All** of them!" The red haired Gargress ordered and Puck rolled his eyes before lowering down to stand next to Titania's mirror and pointed at it with an amused look on his face.

"Does this look like Aladdin's Lamp?" The white-haired changeling questioned while pointing at the Mirror and Demona felt her brow twitch in annoyance. "I have limits, after all." Puck stated and then crossed his arms as best he could around the chains binding him while leaning back against the mirror. "What is it you **really** want?" Puck questioned of the red haired Gargress and then turned to tap the mirror's surface with one finger. As soon as he did the surface of the mirror was consumed by green light, which then changed into a ripple pattern of green magical energy before a clear picture of Goliath could be seen.

"How quaint, after all these centuries you're still carrying a torch." Puck noted in a semi-sarcastic manner while clasping his hands together and tilting his head to one side. "Well if that's what you want I can make him love you again, piece of cake… given your **charming** personality." Puck noted with clear sarcasm and Demona twitched, and then growled low in her throat as she saw Elisa appear next to Goliath on the mirrors surface.

"**That's** it. **That's** what I want!" She hissed out angrily, Puck raising a brow in interest as she did. "If you cannot get rid of **all** the humans, then at least rid me of **that** human! Elisa Maza!" Demona ordered angrily, her eyes suddenly glowing with a bright burning red light.

"Did you say **that** human, or **"That Human"**?" Puck quipped while floating over to her side with his hand cupping his chin, Demona raising a fist as if to strike him and he shrugged. "Oh never mind I'll figure it out." He decided to himself causing Demona to lower her arm and frown as a sudden mischievous look crossed Puck's face. "This just might be fun after all." Puck decided while flying over to the mirror and then hovered before it. "Thy sight Demona doth offend, so Puck will hasten to amend, be gone Elisa human born, and be no more as you were formed!" Puck declared before opening his eyes and mouth, a beam of bright green light shooting from both his eyes and his mouth and into the mirrors surface as he did…

(Clock-Tower…)

Naruto was idly sitting back while Elisa looked thoughtful, processing what they had been told of the mirror and what it could do. In Naruto's own opinion, she was taking the fact that their apparently greatest enemy had a thing of such awesome power in her possession. _'I think I might be worried or freaking out, her, she takes it all calmly… you've got to admire that.'_ Naruto noted to himself while lifting a rock with his tail and then tossing it in the air to catch it in his hand, then reached for something else to lift with his tail."Mirror or no Mirror, Demona's no match for us together, we've just got to wait until she makes her move." Elisa mused aloud while looking to her friends, Naruto currently seeing how much he could lift with his tail. However Elisa then started to glow brightly before being lifted up into the air by an unseen force.

"Elisa!" Goliath said in shock as he followed her movements, Naruto cursing as he jumped to his feet and watched the Shadowed Princess start to glow brightly before there was a sudden blinding flash of light. Naruto raised an arm to block out the light while the others were too surprised by the flash to do so. Blinking his eyes open as the light faded, Naruto the gaped when he saw Elisa standing on her toes, or rather… her talons. Standing before them, Elisa now stood as a Gargress, her skin was a bronze-ish tan color, with her long black hair remaining unchanged, her eyes are now black, with pointed ears small barbs on her elbows and a smooth brow, her wings were chiropteran with a dark red inner membrane that was black on the outside and three claw hand at their apex, a long tail, digitigrade legs with three toed talons, dressed in a pair of calf length jeans and a black shirt that ended at her forearms and left her toned stomach bare…

"Whoa…" Naruto whispered as he and the other gargolyes could only stare in shock at what had just happened right in front of them…

"Ho boy…" Brooklyn added while this seemed to break the damn as each of the Gargoyles voiced their own shock.

"Elisa!" Broadway almost whispered in shock while Lex blinked several times as Goliath walked over to the former Human.

"What happened?" He questioned, Goliath watching as Elisa placed her face in her hands for several moments, the significantly larger Gargoyle grasping the claw on her right wing just to make sure that what he was seeing was real and not some illusion. Lowering her hands from her face and blinking several times, Elisa then stared at Goliath as if trying to recognize him before suddenly smiling as she turned slightly to face him.

"Goliath?" She questioned and then leaned up to wrap her arms around his neck, Goliath seeming somewhat confused by the action. "This is wonderful; you've been changed into a Gargoyle." The woman stated happily, Naruto wondering if a few screws were jarred loose by the transformation, then watched Goliath take hold of her shoulders and push her back.

"What?" He asked her seriously, taken aback by her unusual statement, and wondering what the bronze skinned Gargress was talking about…

(Demona's home…)

The blue Gargress looked at Titania's Mirror silently, placing a clawed hand onto its surface for a moment before quickly turning to look at Puck. "What've you done?" She questioned of the pointy eared changeling, the trickster floating around the red head with a mischievous grin spread across his face.

"The **Human** Elisa Maza, is no more…" Puck replied while internally laughing as Demona clearly didn't know what he meant by that.

"Then let's do the same to every human in the city!" The Gargress declared as Puck continued to smirk and look at her with amusement.

"You don't know what you're asking, believe me." Puck noted in a brief moment of seriousness, only for Demona to grab the chains that were binding him and bring his face close to her own.

"Can it be done?" Demona questioned while shaking the Changeling for a moment and Puck looked at her warily for a moment.

"Yes…" He relented, his keen mind quickly going over a few ways that he could work this to his advantage. "But not from here." The Trickster stated with a flat look, his inner self snickering in amusement as Demona smiled darkly, unaware of what she was about to have him do…

(Clock-Tower…)

"We've always been gargoyles…" Goliath stated while motioning to the other true Gargoyles, Naruto walking towards them with a smirk.

"Maybe not all of us, I'm a shape-shifter." Naruto reminds and Goliath frowns slightly.

"Yes… but regardless, it is you who have been changed, probably by Demona and the mirror." Goliath noted aloud and a sudden frown crossed Naruto's lips while he cupped his chin in thought.

"Wait, why would Demona turn Elisa into a Gargoyle? She wants humans dead right?" Naruto suddenly questioned and Brooklyn frowned deeply before nodding his head.

"Yeah, and especially Elisa, she wouldn't turn her into a Gargoyle, something's off about this." Brooklyn decided and got nods of agreement from the others, before Elisa cleared her throat to get their attention.

"I've always been a Gargoyle." Elisa suddenly declared while looking from Goliath to Naruto and then Brooklyn. "I think I'd know if I wasn't." Elisa declared with her clawed hands on her hips. Rolling his eyes, Naruto then watched Goliath lead Elisa out of the clock tower and onto a large balcony overlooking the city. Following them, Naruto and the other Gargoyles watched Goliath lead her towards the edge.

"How did we first meet?" Goliath asks while holding Elisa's hand, Naruto mentally snickering as he thought they were attracted to one another before, it just seemed a lot more apparent now that they were the same species… especially considering Elisa's reaction to first seeing the lavender skinned Gargoyle…

"I fell off a skyscraper and you glided down and… caught me." Elisa replied unsurely for a moment and Goliath quickly grasped her shoulders and brought her to face him.

"Think! If you've always had wings, why did you need me to catch you?" Goliath questioned of the bronze skinned Gargress, Naruto palming his face and shaking his head.

"Yeah it's not like you didn't have wings or anything…" Naruto mumbled under his breath, causing Brooklyn to smack the back of his head with an amused smirk on his face.

"I can't glide with these." Elisa replied while looking to her wings for a moment, and then glanced at Goliath with a small smile. "Can I?" She questioned and Goliath placed an arm over her shoulders.

"Yes. You can." He replied before jumping off the Clock tower with Elisa letting out a startled Gasp as they fell towards the ground below, only for Goliath to open his wings and start to glide away. Walking over to the edge of the balcony, Naruto frowned to himself while watching Elisa and Goliath glide away.

"Am I the only one who thinks he just ditched us to spend time alone with her while she's like this or something?" Naruto suddenly questioned and Broadway blinked for a moment before rubbing his chin with a smirk.

"Now that you mention it…" He started to say before Hudson shook his head and grabbed one of Naruto's horns, causing the blond to grimace in pain.

"Oi enough about that, le's be teaching the lad ter glide. He'll be needen to know that if nothing else." Hudson stated and Brooklyn nodded his head in agreement before hopping onto the edge of the balcony.

"Yeah, don't worry though it's actually really easy." Brooklyn stated while Hudson pushed Naruto up onto the edge of the balcony, where the blond looked down at the ground below with wide eyes.

"Uh… you know, I can sort of fly so maybe I don't really need to learn how to glide…" Naruto tried to say and Brooklyn grinned while patting the blond on the back lightly.

"Nah man, it's fine, you only have to do one thing to glide." Brooklyn stated and Naruto blinked before looking to the crimson skinned Gargoyle warily, clearly not trusting the look on his face.

"Yeah… and that is?" The blond questioned, only for Brooklyn to suddenly grin.

"Don't hit the ground." Brooklyn replied while giving one hard push to Naruto and knocking him off of the clock-tower. Yelping as he fell towards the ground below, Naruto widened his eyes before opening his wings. Instantly he was lifted up by an updraft and let out a sigh of relief as he started to glide on the breeze.

"I am so gonna get Brooklyn for that." Naruto grumbled with a scowl on his face, only to widen his eyes as he approached a building. "Oh shit how do I turn!" Naruto demanded before looking around and then forming a bit of Darkness on his arm and flung it towards a nearby street-light like a tendril of Darkness. Pulling himself with it, Naruto soon found himself running on the side of the building and then jumped off of its side and started to glide again, and then ignored the sound of churning metal as the streetlight suddenly fell and crushed the car of a certain man. "Okay, at least I have a way to turn, but I should probably figure out what I'm doing…" Naruto decided while flapping his wings, only to catch another updraft and rise up with his wings.

Blinking for a moment, the blond haired youth then lowered one wing and raised the other, causing him to turn. "Oh great, now I know how to turn…" The blond haired youth muttered to himself before shrugging his shoulders and bringing his wings close to his body, causing him to dive-bomb towards the ground, then opened his wings and landed on the side of a building. Digging his claws into the stone, the blond then started to climb his way up the building before jumping off and flying off into the night once more.

Meanwhile, back with the streetlight from before, a man walks towards his car beneath the streetlight with a tired sigh. Having only just gotten off work he approached his car and then stopped suddenly as the streetlight came down on top of it. Gaping for a moment, the man then looked up and saw a certain white-skinned Gargoyle pass by before groaning. "Why does this always happen to me?" The man wondered to himself, having lost not only his last few jobs, but also his motorcycle to Gargoyles, but now he'd also lost his damn car, and he hadn't even finished making payments on it either!

(Naruto learned new ability: Glide…)

(?)

Zero, Angela, and Dante still carrying the former Maleficent now Black-Soulless: Witch walked out of a Dark-Corridor and into an ominous and dark place. Looking around, Zero noted the area was made of mostly ebony rock of some kind, though was polished to a mirror shine, something that contrasted greatly with the torn and tattered tapestries lining the long halls. The columns that also line the walls give way to a view of a world, and Zero can't help his frown as he walks towards the columns and then silently gapes at what he sees for several long moments. "Is something wrong?" Angela questioned of her boyfriend and rather than answer he reached out and turned her head to look at the world as well, her eyes widening in a mix of fascination, shock, revulsion, and horror when she saw what he did.

The world is vast, an endless expanse of darkness, black and dark-violet clouds seem to all but consume everything, the sky completely filled. The land isn't much better, for only broken patches of land stretch out into the distance, reminiscent of Angela's mindscape Nevermore, only with somewhat larger patches in the center of the world. In fact, the center of the strange world has a massive obsidian coliseum of some kind, numerous chains trailing out from it in what looks like a spider-web pattern and attaching to the many buildings around the world. Said buildings are no less strange, bearing a twisted and almost inhuman design that only a madman could possibly dream up, the echoing voices of chants the only actual sign that life of any kind exists in the strange twisted realm they are standing in.

"By god, what is this place of evil?" Dante suddenly questioned while looking out across the twisted world and Zero frowned for a moment before watching as numerous twisted towers seemed to rise up in the distance and then start to turn in a perfect circle around the area of the coliseum and the buildings around it. The towers turned slowly, smashing patches of earth that got in their way, chunks of the towers walls gave way to the barrage and left them broken, shattered and gaping open for attack. Each of them bore many cruel looking spikes and hooks, with heavy iron-chains completely wrapped around them. The chains soon went taught from the turning off the buildings, the sound of groaning metal and churning stone echoing out across the entire world as they did.

The land around the towers suddenly started to rip open as the iron chains pulled on something, something large which rose up slowly. Watching in morbid fascination the three Black-Soulless bore witness to an enormous obsidian ring being raised upwards, completely surrounding the city and coliseum of the world. Dirt and dust rose up like an ominous cloud from the churning of stone and soon enough the towers came to a stop, the chains running completely taught. The ring then did something surprising, it expanded, it's form divided into several sections, between these sections long bridges started to extend outwards, soon stopping as they each connected with one of the many towers surrounding the surreal and almost evil world that the three Black-Soulless had found themselves on…

"_You probably shouldn't stand there like that…"_ A soft melancholy voice noted, the Black-Soulless quickly turning, only for them to gap at what was looking out on the world with them. The being was short, and young from the voices pitch, its body was feminine and thin, not even seeming to be teenaged, yet she was dressed in a tattered hooded black robe with leather bands / plates forming over several sections of her body, and a white sash hanging from her hips, her fingers on her right hand looked thin and sharp, a spiked pauldron over her right shoulder, bones formed slooped spikes on her left shoulder, and her entire left leg appeared to be made of nothing but bones, her left hand an overly large clawed hand made of bones, while from the shadows of her hood, a single section of a skull was clearly visible…

"Who… what are you?" Zero questioned of the creature, causing Angela to slap his arm and the single section of a skull within the hood turned towards them.

"_I am 6 of 26, The Pain of Loss."_ "Loss" replied with a slight curtsy, surprising Zero and Angela while Dante slowly walked towards "Her" warily.

"What do you mean you're the Pain of Loss?" Dante questioned and Loss turned, her oversized left arm causing her body to tilt to one side rather unsteadily.

"_In your words, I would be a mere Personification, the living incarnation of The Pain of Loss, each of you know this feeling well, so it is easiest for me to visit you in my true form."_ Loss explained, and then turned and looked back out at the world for a moment before a wind blew through the hall, causing her robe to flutter in the unearthly breeze. _"My father is calling… I had best be off."_ Loss offered with another curtsy and then walked away, a shadow rising from the ground and allowing her to walk within it before vanishing from sight. It was several tense moments after Loss left that Zero "blinked" and then looked to both Angela and Dante.

"Am I the only one freaked that she was half-dead or something?" He questioned and Angela gave him a look before looking down the length of the hall with a deep frown on her face.

"We should keep looking around and find out what's going on with this place." Angela decided before walking down the hall, Zero following her and Dante falling into step behind him as they journeyed further into the strange place. Walking down the hall, Zero raised a brow as instead of coming closer to the end, the hall started to extend, getting progressively longer and longer the farther they walked.

"Weirdest hall ever… but man is it an interesting walk." Zero noted to himself as the hall continued to stretch farther and farther, Angela grunting in annoyance.

"Unfortunately, I don't share in your sense of humor…" She reminded the Infidel and he seemed to hum to himself before placing an arm over her shoulders.

"Well it's not like this place is any less freaky than Nevermore." He reminded her and Angela seemed to slump while walking with him, letting out a sigh and palming her face as they continued to walk through the strange place.

"What's said is that doesn't make me feel any better… and it actually makes me feel even worse since Nevermore is my mind…" She grumbled out, Zero rubbing the back of his neck and lightly patting her back in response.

"Well… at least you're used to this kind of place then." Zero reminded her, and she let out a slight grunt of acknowledgement before mumbling something under her breath.

"True, and is it just me or is the hall not stretching anymore?" The Soulless Heretic questioned while looking around and Zero blinked and looked around with her.

"Huh, you're right… so I'm guessing that it doesn't go on for eternity at least." He mused while Angela nodded her head in agreement, and then focused one reaching the end of the surprisingly long hall. Soon coming to a large pair of double doors, Zero walked ahead of Angela and then pushed them open, the doors creaking with disuse as they found themselves walking into the same horrid throne-room Ventus had many years before. Looking around, the three noticed that the tapestries were ripped and torn here as well; the polished floor had a violet carpet that was ripped and tattered as it led to a being resting on the throne itself.

"_So at last you come to stand before me…"_ A deep monotone voice droned out, the three quickly looking up to see a man resting upon the throne. However, this man was twisted, much as Loss appeared to be, his skin was blue-white in tone, with pointed ears and spiky white hair, his eyes were cold unforgiving and pitch-black, without even a shred of humanity left in his gaze, he was a lean muscled man with black tattoos over his body and sharp black claws, the tattoos formed stripes like a mock beard / mustache on his face, black tear marks falling from the corners of his eyes, a three pointed star on the bridge of his nose, a black spider on his torso, and long black lines crawling up his right arm.

The man was also dressed strangely, bearing heavy iron manacles upon his wrists and ankles and a heavy looking iron collar around his neck, broken chains hanging from each, numerous black bands covering several sections of his body with a chain-male loincloth, a pair of heavy looking segmented knee guards, white pants almost unseen with his armor, white plates of armor over his hips and a white cloth hanging from his waist and reaching down below his knees. Frowning deeply, Zero slowly approached the throne while Loss walked out from behind the throne and came to stand at its side, the strange dark eyed man merely watching as Angela and Dante soon approached him as well.

"Something tells me you're her father…" Zero noted and the man silently nodded, his facial expression remaining completely unchanged from the dull boredom he had expressed since they first saw him.

"If you're her father, then who are you? What could possibly sire the Pain of Loss itself?" Angela questioned of the being and he merely raised a hand and leaned his cheek against it while watching them.

"_My name is 26 of 26… I am the Pain of Sorrow and Suffering, known to some as The Pain of War."_ The man replied in a dull monotone voice before closing his eyes as he "felt" that little tidbit of information cause Zero to tense. However he inwardly admitted, War did create Loss in its own way, so it was fitting her father was The Pain of War itself… _"But I have another name; I am Leader of The Guardians of Pain…"_ The man stated while placing both hands onto his thrones and rose up to his full, imposing six-foot height. _"I am Master of The Eternal Plain…"_ The man continued to say as he walked down the length of the stairs leading up to his throne, Loss staying at his side every step of the way. _"I am a Creator of the Acolytes names…"_ The man continued as twisted shadows rose out of the ground, the familiar Acolytes which Vanitus had fought forming and bowing as the man and Loss passed them.

"_I am, Lord Pain."_ Lord Pain stated flatly as he reached forward, a strange wicked looking straight edged sword forming before he grasped its hilt and lifted it up to rest along his shoulders. Zero mentally cursed and widened his eyes upon seeing it was actually a large long Ice Saw of all things, maybe even a Nokogiri of some kind, with an obsidian hilt that bore a chain falling from its pommel, the chain briefly coming to life and attaching to the chain on his right manacle. _"And you are trespassing where you are not wanted… I will give you but one warning, leave now."_ Lord Pain ordered darkly while pointing his ice-saw like sword towards them, his pitch-black eyes gazing at the three darkly.

"Is that a challenge?" Zero questioned, causing Angela to palm her face with a groan while Dante took a step back, a familiar Heartless Minion watching from the side-lines. "Cause if it is, then you're on LP!" Zero declared with a grin in his voice, Lord-Pain frowning deeply and bringing his sword back to rest along his shoulders then snapped his fingers.

"_I see… you are a brave one, I will accept this, but first, face some of my Guardians."_ Lord Pain stated as five portals of shifting shadows opened up and five black leather bound manacle wearing mummies walked out of the portals, each looking identical save for some added features. The first of them seemed to have glasses and a strange looking apparatus on his head, the next had metal teeth and metal claws grafted to its hands and fingers, afterwards was a simple leather bound mummy, followed by one with a pair of goggles, and the last one had a strange looking chain of some sort with sharp spines along it wrapped around his body and stringing him along. Cracking his neck, the glasses wearing one then rubbed at his shoulder with a groan.

"_Ugh, great, our first time out in a decade and the boss leaves in our fucking sealed state…"_ He grumbled out with a hefty amount of annoyance in his voice, the goggles wearing one chuckling to himself.

"_Well think of it this way, at least we can walk around again, it's not like being trapped in limbo was any more fun than being Sealed."_ He noted aloud and the glasses wearing one grunted while the simple mummy floated off of the ground, arms folded behind his back.

"_Regardless, it would seem that the master wishes us to deal with these intruders, doing so might convince him to lessen our sentence for the attempted coup d'état that you tried to instigate Annoyance."_ The mummy noted and the aptly named Annoyance grunted while crossing his arms over his chest and seemed to glare at the black-soulless.

"_I still don't see why he got so pissy about it; we were just trying to liven things up around here…"_ The goggles wearing mummy noted to himself and then got a look from the others, the clawed mummy snarling while crouching on his haunches like a wild animal. _"And jeez, I think Temptation lost a little more of his sanity in limbo, he might even try eating them!"_ The goggles wearing Guardian noted and the floating one turned and seemed to twitch upon seeing Lord Pain giving them a slightly annoyed look.

"_Fellows it would seem as if we were talking about the master… while he was standing right behind us."_ The floating Guardian noted, causing the only other talking ones to stiffen then turn around to see Lord Pain frowning.

"_Uh… hi boss, how's it going?"_ The goggled Guardian questioned while rubbing the back of his head, Annoyance grunting in, well, annoyance before seeming to glare at Lord-Pain.

"_What do you wish of us?"_ He questioned darkly while Lord Pain merely pointed towards Zero and the other black Soulless with a flat look.

"_These intruders have invaded our realm, deal with them and I will consider releasing you from Limbo on a more permanent basis."_ Lord Pain intoned while walking away, revealing a large tattoo on his back that looked like black angel wings tipped in a bright bloody red. As his offer registered, each of the Guardians seemed to become more lively, the goggled one even stretching out his limbs and chuckling darkly.

"_Alright! Now yer talking my language boss man! A little scrap is just what I need to loosen myself up after a few decades in Limbo!"_ The goggled Guardian noted while Annoyance walked forward and then seemed to glare at Zero and the others.

"_Indeed, I am 1 of 26, The Pain of Annoyance."_ The Guardian stated darkly and then motioned to the animalistic Guardian as it snarled and hissed in a distinctively feral manner. _"While this feral little ball of insanity happens to be my brother of a sort 2 of 26, the Pain of Temptation."_ Annoyance explained simply while the hunched over Guardian snarled and a long slime covered tongue formed out from between its sharp metal teeth to lick them.

"_I am 3 of 26, The Pain of Fear."_ The floating Guardian intoned flatly, Zero blinking for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck.

"Okay… how are Temptation or Fear painful? I mean I get how Loss is painful, and War is painful as hell, and I suppose Annoyance causes a headache so it's sort of painful…" The Black-Soulless felt the need to ask and Annoyance pinched the bridge of his nose.

"_Temptation refers to a person's desires… the things that we desire and yet never allow ourselves to truly indulge in. Before he was here, Temptation never even once considered allowing himself to do anything he desired, he always walked the straight and narrow, he constantly did as he was told… and so here, he has relinquished himself to his desires, his temptations have consumed him."_ Annoyance explained and Zero mentally grimaced, as that sounded like he'd become somewhat hedonistic, to an extreme extent of course, only he was even more monstrous as he'd clearly given in to even more base desires.

"_As for fear, it can be painful, when one is so stricken with fear… that they fail to act."_ Fear explained calmly and Zero frowned to himself, guessing that the Guardian had once been someone who had been too scared to do something, though he wasn't able to tell what it was.

"_Yeah yeah, whatever! Me, I'm 4 of 26, The Pain of Betrayal Baby!"_ The Goggled Guardian suddenly declared with what sounded like a grin, Zero wincing as he knew this particular pain pretty well… _"Oh yeah, and this lummox here is 5 of 26, The Pain of Love."_ Betrayal added while nudging the chained Guardian in the side, then started to rub his chin. _"Yeah, he hasn't talked much since Annoyance sewed his mouth shut a couple centuries back…"_ Betrayal noted more to himself than anyone, Zero gaping at that while Annoyance grunted and glared at his fellow Guardian.

"_It's not my fault the bastard is an Emo who would whine bitch and moan about the fucking whore who broke his gorramd heart!"_ Annoyance shouted at the surprisingly mellow Guardian who nodded his head while Love just seemed to stand around and take it. _"God was he annoying when he could still talk! It was every four or five days and he went back to talking about how fucking sad his life was! I swear, just cause we look like Emo rejects and are called the Guardians of Pain doesn't mean we are all emo ourselves!"_ Annoyance grumbled out, Zero sort of understanding his annoyance with Love if that was the case, though not agreeing with him sewing the guys lips shut… then again, he'd have just beaten him senseless whenever he'd start talking, while not a permanent solution it'd make him feel pretty good.

"_Oi tell me about it! And I swear if I had to listen to him bitch and moan one more time I'd be the one kicking his ass off of the fucking planet and into the plain of eternal suffering! Hell, even the Acolytes who worship the fucking dirt we walk on hate his guts when he starts acting like an Emo bastard!"_ Betrayal declared, Zero wondering if there really was a plain of eternal suffering as it seemed these guys believed one exists…

"Uh, are you guys done now?" Angela questioned unsurely, the Guardians all looking at her while Lord-Pain shook his head and took a seat on his throne.

"_Whoa, you guys are seriously still here? Man, I figured you would've like left by now or something…"_ Betrayal admitted while rubbing the back of his neck, Annoyance, Fear, Loss, and even Love nodding their heads in agreement while Temptation was spacing out and gazing towards Angela with a disturbing intensity.

"In all honesty, we have no idea where we are or if Dark-Corridors could even get us out of here." Zero offered and Betrayal nodded his head, seeing the Black-Soulless point on the matter, while Fear rubbed his chin.

"_Have you even tried making a Dark-Corridor?"_ The Guardian questioned and Zero shook his head. _"Then of course you don't know, though if a corridor leads here, it's reasonable to assume one could lead you out of here as well."_ Fear continued logically, Angela briefly appreciating that someone in all the worlds had actually used his common sense for once in her life, while Loss walked over to stand with them, Betrayal seeming to vanish for a second before he suddenly appeared beside her, his hand on his chin.

"_Hey, have you finally started growing into your figure or something Loss?"_ The Goggled Guardian questioned of her suddenly, the smaller Guardian seeming to twitch, then twisted on her heel into a flying kick that easily sent him flying, Annoyance ducking to avoid the goggled Guardian as he impacted with the far wall…

"_Pervert…"_ Loss mumbled in distaste, Zero snickering to himself as Betrayal slowly climbed to his feet while muttering something under his breath.

"You know, for "Guardians of Pain" you guys aren't as totally depressing and emo as I thought you'd be." Zero stated while crossing his arms over his chest and seemed to get several annoyed looks from the collected members of the GOP.

"_Just because we're the living embodiments of pain and suffering does not mean we're depressing Emo-bastards! I mean c'mon, who the hell said we had to be cliché assholes like that?"_ Betrayal demanded, the other Guardians nodding their heads in agreement. _"I mean seriously, whoever he is, I'm gonna find his ass, then I'll grab his tongue and pull it down through his anus so he can eat shit for spreading such horrible horrible lies!"_ Betrayal declared and got looks from all those gathered, as that sounded kind of extreme even for him.

"_Err… right… uh, don't put us in with his type, we don't really condone or even support most of his actions."_ Fear suddenly stated while motioning towards Betrayal, the Goggled Guardian muttering to himself, before taking a quick combat stance. _"However, now the time for talk is over, our master has given the order, so prepare yourself!"_ Fear declared while raising his arms up, Annoyance adjusting his glasses while the strange monstrous Chain around Love started to pull him into a stance and Loss spread the large sharp claws on her left hand as the shadows started to rise up around her…

(Manhattan…)

Naruto found himself wandering through the skies over the city, frowning to himself silently while crossing his arms. _'I smell soulless, yet I don't see any soulless… where the hell have they gotten off to?'_ The blond Seeker wondered to himself before looking up and hovering in the air upon seeing a lightning bolt strike a distant tower. "Huh… I wonder if that could be something important." The blond mumbled to himself before turning in the air and gliding a nearby building. Stretching out his limbs for a moment, Naruto then rubbed at his chin for a moment while looking to the large tower in the distance. "I should probably go find the Gargoyles…" He noted to himself, and then remembered how Brooklyn had kicked him off of the clock-tower…

"On second thought, they can handle it themselves!" Naruto grumbled out angrily while making his way across the roof, and then hopped onto the next roof with a frown. Continuing across the rooftops, the blond haired Seeker of Darkness soon found the scent of The Soulless wafting closer with the breeze. "Finally, I was starting to wonder when they would show themselves…" The blond Seeker noted with a frown, just as several Soulless: Paladins formed on the rooftop, each one looking down at him. Smirking slightly, Naruto swung his arms out to his sides and formed Soul-Blade and No-Heart into his hands. "C'mon." Naruto ordered while pointing Soul-Blade at the Soulless, and as one the armored Paladins lunged at the blond haired Seeker.

One of them quickly swung its arm, sending a wave of light towards Naruto who merely fell down, seemingly vanishing, while a shadow slithered its way across the ground. The confused Soulless looked around for the blond, only to jump back as he came out of the ground, stabbing Soul-Blade into one of the Paladins with a grin on his face. The Soulless was absorbed into the weapon as soon as he did, and the blond looked towards the remaining Soulless darkly. "Who's next?" The blond quipped with a raised brow and the Soulless lunged at him once more moving back with a single move, easily twisting and dodging around the Paladins attempts to stab him with their lance-like arms.

Chuckling lightly, Naruto then swung his arm and sent an arc of darkness flying into the Soulless Paladins. One of them was totally bisected by the arc while another lost its left arm and wing, thus fell to the ground like a stone. Smiling darkly, Naruto kicked forward and stabbed Soul-Blade into the downed Paladin, quickly absorbing its soul while one of the remaining Paladins brought its wing inwards before throwing it forward, its razor sharp feathers flying at Naruto like a hail of daggers. Seeing the attack coming, the blond grinned widely before he stabbed both of his blades into the ground, a sphere of darkness forming around his body. A mere second afterwards a shot of darkness arched out of the sphere and an silhouette of Naruto attacked the Paladin that attacked him, slicing it in two down the middle.

The remaining Two Paladins saw this and quickly flew into the air and started to evade as more of the silhouettes started to form and try to cut them to pieces as well. Soon however they stopped and Naruto removed the sphere, both Paladins looking down and watching cautiously as the blond through Soul-Blade into the air and formed Void-Gear into hand. Throwing Void-Gear forward, Naruto then jumped onto it and rode into the sky, catching Soul-Blade along the way as he headed upwards for the two remaining Soulless. As soon as they saw the blond approaching them, the two Soulless reacted by grabbing their halos.

The first one crushed its halo in its hand before rearing its fist back and then punched forward at the blond haired youth. A beam of pure light extended from its enclosed fist and yet Naruto merely twisted on Void-Gear and easily avoided the beam. Twirling his Keyblades in hand, Naruto caught them in a reverse grip and swung an arc of Darkness from each of them. The arcs flowed towards the two floating Paladins, only for them to dodge out of the way, the Paladin who had yet to attack then slammed its glowing Halo onto its lance arm and lunged back. Launching itself towards Naruto the Soulless jabbed its lance-arm at the blond, only for him to effortlessly avoid the attack with a grin.

Stabbing Soul-Blade into the Soulless, Naruto absorbed it into the weapon then glanced up at the last remaining Paladin which looked around for something. Not seeing what it wanted it then watched Naruto fly passed it and up into the air. There the blond jumped off of Void-Gear and stretched open his wings as the Keyblade vanished in a flash of sparks. Gliding through the air for a few moments, Naruto then lunged down towards the Paladin and stabbed Soul-Blade down through the Soulless sternum effortlessly. Both of them began to fall as he did, Naruto smirking as the Paladin was absorbed into his blade like those before it. With the Soulless gone, Naruto then opened his wings to catch the air and fly into the city.

However as he did, the blond then yelped as a sudden flash of green light was sent out from the large tower he'd noticed earlier. "Okay, maybe I should've checked that out…" Naruto reasoned before sniffing at the air and frowned deeply upon catching a whif of an exceptionally strong Soulless. "But then again, I have a job to do…" He reasoned while flapping his wings only once and began to glide through the city, only to gape upon seeing nothing but Gargoyles on the streets below… "Whoa, what the hell did I miss?" He wondered before shaking his head and grumbling something about focusing. Spotting a park near the center of the city, Naruto maneuvered himself to where he landed in it in a low crouch.

Exhaling through his nose, Naruto caped his wings around his shoulders and walked into Central Park with a frown. Spotting a Gargoyle jogging by, Naruto raised a brow before shaking his head and entering into a circular expanse of some kind. "I must say, I'm thoroughly impressed with your combat skills." A vaguely familiar voice echoed out, Naruto looking around before a flash of light blinded him. Taking a step back, the blond then blinked his eyes open and closed several times and saw a strange Soulless with a sword in hand, silver hair spiking out of the back of its mask, and a Neolithic cross over its mask standing across from him. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto also noticed the golden armor, something he'd only seen on Nephilim before.

"You're one of those Court Soulless, like Nephilim." Naruto stated with a frown and the golden armored Soulless silently nodded his head while walking forward.

"Indeed, I am Saint. I am the Soulless in charge of managing travel between the worlds…" Saint replied with a slight bow at the waist and Naruto narrowed his eyes onto the golden armored Soulless.

"Why would the Soulless endanger their operations by sending someone as important as you to fight me?" Naruto questioned of the golden armored Soulless and he let out a light chuckle before crossing his arms over his chest.

"I was not chosen for this; I volunteered to take this task. Nephilim was weak and fell to your blade Seeker; I will reclaim the honor of the Soulless, and purge you from the worlds myself!" Saint replied and Naruto gripped Soul-Blade and No-Heart tightly, Saint suddenly glancing down and lingering on No-Heart. "Where did you get that?" Saint questioned while pointing his sword to the blade, his masked eyes never leaving the keyblade as Naruto lifted it up and raised a brow.

"I got it a while back, does it matter?" The blond asked with a raised brow and Saint merely cracked his neck and then twirled his sword in hand before pointing its blade at the blond.

"I suppose not, for soon enough you won't even exist anymore, Seeker of Darkness." Saint declared before lunging forward with a sudden burst of speed, Naruto narrowing his eyes and blocking his sword with No-Heart and swinging Soul-Blade at him. However Saint blurred into motion once more and Naruto had to jump up to avoid a swing from the lightning fast Soulless. Opening his wings Naruto then landed and scowled as Saint appeared once more, only to twirl his sword and stab it down into the ground. Instantly numerous pillars of light spiraled around the Court Soulless before suddenly spreading outwards in a spiral. Cursing under his breath Naruto backpedaled long enough before rolling between two of the pillars of light and letting out a breath of relief.

However, his relief was short lived as he barely managed to avoid another swing from Saint and rolled backwards for several moments, before twitching as he vanished once more. "Seriously, this is your idea of fighting? Running and hiding like some kind of coward?" Naruto demanded with a low growl reverberating from somewhere near the back of his throat.

"I do not hide boy, I am merely using every advantage that I can…" Saint replied from nowhere and everywhere at once, Naruto silently looking all around for the Court Soulless. "One who does not use every advantage against his enemy is a fool; it is not the strongest warrior who wins but the smartest. If I were to attack you head on you would win, you have superior one on one combat skill. However against multiple opponents, you have to focus on a single opponent at a time, thus I had believed my Paladins would be sufficient to dispose of you. Of course I was greatly mistaken in my reasoning, as you also have speed on your side, allowing you to deal with them easily." Saint explained before appearing and lunging with several lightning fast slashes of his sword, Naruto finishing it by locking Soul-Blade and No-Heart with his sword.

"So what's your point?" Naruto asked through gritted teeth and Saint let out a humph while crouching down and ramming his shoulder forward, knocking the blond back. Rolling back and flipping onto all fours as Saint tried to stab him, Naruto growled darkly while glaring at the Soulless as he blurred into motion once more.

"My point is simply this; I will not underestimate your combat abilities like Nephilim did. I have been watching you for some time, your abilities in long range attacks are sadly lacking when compared to your close-range abilities. This means that a full squad of Acolytes could keep you busy for hours, while Paladins and Crusaders would be mere child's play for you to defeat as they are strictly close-range Fighters. As I am also a close-range fighter, I will stick to my strengths…" Saint explained once more and Naruto frowned as he could swear something about the Soulless voice sounded familiar… and sort of like… well… a teacher.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it; you'll keep dodging my attacks and moving around at ungodly speeds so I can't hit you while you can wear me down before dealing the finishing blow." Naruto reasoned while looking around and saw Saint appear a distance away from him and lift his blade before pointing it forward and swinging it, sending several spheres of light towards the blond. _'Wait, I've seen those spheres before… or at least… Ventus did…'_ Naruto thought to himself as the spheres lunged at him and started to explode, cursing loudly the seeker shot into the air, however Saint then lunged up into the air and stabbed his blade at the blond. Widening his eyes, Naruto quickly blocked with his Keyblades and formed his Dark-Armor over his body…

"Neo-Shade! Come forth!" Naruto declared while glaring at Saint from behind his helmet, his symbiote forming near instantaneously and grabbing the Court-Soulless.

"_**Get lost!"**_ The Neo-Shade declared loudly before throwing the Court-Soulless to the ground where he impacted with a great bang. As soon as Naruto landed he noticed his armor had changed to match his new body and let out a loud roar, spreading his massive wings while the Neo-Shade narrowed its eyes on Saint. Crawling out of the hole he'd made, Saint didn't even have the chance to blink before Naruto was upon him, grabbing him by throat and then slamming him into the ground. The force of the slam caused the earth to buckle and then finally crack open as Naruto then lifted him up and the Neo-Shade started to wail on him. Finishing off with an uppercut, the shadowy wraith sent the Court-Soulless flying back. Spreading his wings and grasping at his head, Naruto growled low in his throat before roaring out once more.

The roar created a sudden shockwave that hit Saint, sending him flying back into a tree before he broke through it and was sent skidding across the dirt before finally impacting with and shattering a fountain. Releasing several labored breaths, Naruto then flapped his wings and went speeding across the land. Lunging at Saint with a roar and delivering a devastating Dropkick to his face, the force of which sent them both sliding forward before Naruto flipped off of the Soulless. Crouching down and landing on all fours, Naruto suddenly started to shake before the glass of his mask broke open to reveal a sharp jagged maw, his roars coming out even louder and clearer than ever before. Lightning arched across Naruto's form as he gripped at his head once more, darkness flickering around his body before he lunged at Saint once more.

The said Soulless barely managed to get up before Naruto suddenly started to lash out with his claws, ripping and tearing chunks out of the being. He then forced his wings forward and somehow managed to use them to pick of Saint, then flipped back and started to rapidly kick / claw at him with his feet. Finishing his vicious attack with a sudden sharp upwards kick that sent Saint flying upwards, Naruto then rolled over onto all fours, ducked down and then launched himself upwards. Closing in on the Soulless, Naruto wrapped his tail around his ankle before ducking into a downward roll and bringing Saint with him. Soon approaching ground, Naruto slammed into Saint, causing him to give out a pained groan / moan.

However the vicious and possessed Seeker wasn't done with him, he then lifted his arms, and seemed to look at the sharp curved barbs on his elbows for a moment before suddenly slamming them into Saint's back, causing the Soulless to cry out in pain. Not finished with him, or his fun, the possessed Seeker, then grabbed Saint by his hair and lifted him into the air, a malevolent chuckle echoed from his throat as he crouched back and lunged at a large boulder before slamming Saint's face against the rock. Rearing him back, Naruto continued to do so, slamming his face into the stone again and again, then casually throwing him to the side, the Neo-Shade forced to watch all of this with wide eyes, only to then watch in horror as a small heart shaped hole started to form in the center of the blond's chest…

However as this happened, Saint finally managed to rise to his feet, and then suddenly grasped his head as his mask broke apart. What was revealed as a pair of tired blue eyes, which blinked open and closed several times before looking to where Naruto was groaning in pain, the hole slowly growing as the Neo-Shade looked on helplessly. "Your heart… it is very strong… but the darkness is stronger here…" Saint noted while looking at his sword and then cast it aside as if it were something worthless. "I've brought… such horror to the worlds in this form… I will not allow anyone else to suffer because of me… chosen one… of the dark realm… I will not let you fall!" He then said while raising his hands to palm his face for a moment, then through his hand to the side and formed a familiar keyblade with E shaped teeth…

"My true name is… Master Eraqus! And this madness ends here!" The Court soulless declared while raising his Keyblade to the sky, a suit of vaguely samurai looking armor forming over his body as soon as he did. The armor was mostly silver with gold accents, a blue-green girdle of sorts forming armor around his waist, while a gold key-bearer symbol rested upon his brow. Looking at his hands for a moment, Master Eraqus then jumped back and lifted his Keyblade into the air, sending a burst of light upwards that formed into chains, the chains then shot outwards and spread to several corners of the area, The Neo-Shade watching with wide eyes as Eraqus then crouched down, before lunging up into the sky and lifting a massive section of the earth upwards and into the air.

The shaking and shuttering of the earth caused Naruto to fall forward before snarling and glaring up towards the now floating armored master. The Master then landed on the ground and blurred into motion, Naruto lunging at him and swinging a claw through him, only to hit an afterimage as Master Eraqus then lunged from behind and started to rapidly slice through the possessed Seeker of Darkness. Soon finished with that, Eraqus formed a ring of golden sword like objects around himself as he lunged at Naruto, the blades then formed into beams of energy that sent the possessed seeker flying back into a skid. Quickly running after the blond, Master Eraqus had to dodge a quick blade of Darkness and lunged into the air and formed a strange symbol of energy at his back that began to glow brightly.

Moving with blinding speed, the master landed a kick against the possessed seekers chin and caused him to stumble back. Landing low to the ground, master Eraqus then twisted under a swipe from Naruto's claws and elbowed him in his side. Grunting in pain Naruto roared and twisted into a tail-whip, Eraqus effortlessly flipping over the attack and sending a series of swords flying down to explode in a hail of fire that knocked the possessed seeker onto his back. Grunting and getting back to his feet quickly, Naruto roared towards Eraqus who merely lunged down at him and kneed him in the chin, knocking him back once more.

Twirling his blade in hand, Master-Eraqus then seemed to vanish, Naruto looking all around before the master formed before him and sent several chains from his Keyblade that quickly wrapped around the possessed blond. "Hold still!" Eraqus grunted as the possessed youth thrashed in the chains and he twitched before lifting him up and then slamming him down into the ground. Naruto let out a grunting sound while Eraqus formed several swords which started to spin around his body, raising his Keyblade up he then sent the swords flying towards Naruto where they quickly started to twist and turn around his body before finally wrapping around him enough to hold him down.

"Good, now I can…" Eraqus started to say before his chains were broken and No-Heart formed before the blond, taking the shape of a crest while a wall of pure Darkness formed around the possessed seeker. "Xehanort… even now you stand against me…" Eraqus mumbled to himself before lunging forward, No-Heart merely forming all of Naruto's keyblades and sending them flying at the armored master. Twisting and turning around the Keyblades, Eraqus then started to rapidly slice and swing at No-Heart, all but effortlessly dispatching it and causing the field to fade. However the Keyblade then flew before Naruto who howled loudly, the heart shaped hole started to grow even larger, while a field of darkness surrounded the Possessed Seeker.

As soon as the possessed seeker was protected a large throne formed before him, a familiar suit of armor sitting in it, before it suddenly threw off the coverings over its arms. The armor then pushed itself up out of its throne and onto its feet, standing strong and tall across from Eraqus, forming No-Heart into its hand while Naruto remained safely hidden behind the field of Darkness. Narrowing his eyes, Master-Eraqus reformed then strange glowing seal behind his back while No-Heart crouched into a stance. "Somehow, this feels just like old times…" Eraqus noted mostly to himself while taking a stance across from Xehanort's armor, both suddenly lunging at one another and locking blades. The two dragged their blades into swings pounding their keyblades into one another before No-Heart formed its keyblade into a single greave on its right leg and lunged into a kick to Eraqus face.

Stumbling back from the blow, Eraqus growled and rolled out of the way as No-Heart then lunged forward, a field of Darkness protecting it from damage. Growling lowly, Eraqus formed several chains from his keyblade that lunged out and wrapped around No-Heart, before he then lifted it up into the air and slammed it down into the ground. However the armor then formed No-Heart into four wings and flew into the air, Eraqus grunting in annoyance as he did. "Xehanort always was better at shape-manipulation…" Eraqus noted bitterly as No-Heart formed darkness into its hands and then started to fire a slew of blasts down at the armored master. Widening his eyes, Eraqus cursed while forming a barrier, reflecting each of the spheres back at No-Heart, causing the armor to fall from the sky.

However on its way down, No-Heart formed a shield from its keyblade and came down swinging at Eraqus, who quickly moved out of the way. No-Heart landed on the ground in a crouch as a result, and Master-Eraqus stood across from it and took in a calming breath. Remembering the lessons of his own master, Eraqus lunged forward and swung at No-Heart, the armor quickly moving out of the way and grabbing him and twisting on his heel to slam the master into the ground. Grunting in pain, Eraqus then swung his own keyblade up and fired a ball of light into No-Heart's face, knocking the armor back and allowing himself to roll onto his feet while the empty-armor slowly got back to its own feet.

Moving quickly, Eraqus lunged at No-Heart, only for the armor to block his attack with its shield and then punch him back. Forming weapon back into a keyblade, No-heart then formed all of Naruto's other Keyblades around its body before sending them flying at a surprised Eraqus. Mentally cursing, the armored master dodged the attack while No-Heart came at him swinging, the master blocking each of the blows as they came. "We've fought and sparred for years Xehanort; I already know all your moves." Eraqus reminded the empty armor and it merely tossed its keyblade forward, causing it to form into a crest and hover in the air. The Crest then formed Naruto's other keyblades and sent them at Master-Eraqus, while No-Heart lunged at the armored master on foot.

Seeing both coming, Eraqus narrowed his eyes and took a defensive stance, his eyes seemingly narrowed before quickly forming a barrier at the last second. The barrier deflected all of the keyblades from No-Heart's crest, and the armored master then ducked under a kick from the armor itself. "This ends here!" The Master declared while twisting on his heel and sending an arc of light to rip through No-Heart, sending the armor flying back and off of the arena he had made. Seeing the crest attempt to soar back to its master, Eraqus moved quickly and grabbed it with his left hand. The armored master grit his teeth as the Darkness of the weapon attempted to force its way through his armor, Eraqus hissing as could feel it as it managed to work its way through.

Gritting his teeth and looking to where Naruto was, the Master shook his head and ignored the pain of the Darkness spreading its way through his armor. Narrowing his eyes, Eraqus lunged at the field and sliced through it with Master Keeper, the field shattering and Naruto falling to his knees before looking up, the hole growing dangerously large while a pair of yellow eyes flashed within the black glass of his helmet. "Do not worry young one…" Eraqus stated while looking to No-Heart for a moment and then stabbing the weapon into the spot where the hole was. "You will not fade away this day." Eraqus whispered while turning the key, causing a brilliant light to form as the hole was quickly sealed, No-Heart fading while Naruto's dark armor bled away, leaving the blond to sway for a moment before groaning as he fell to his side.

With the blond saved, and No-Heart gone, Master Eraqus let out a light chuckle before falling to his knees. As the armored master's power faded, Eraqus quickly picked up Naruto, hissing as the darkness continued to eat away at him. Working through that, the master lunged across the land and jumped back to the ground below as the large section of earth fell to the ground once more. Letting out a breath, Xehanort released Naruto and then fell to his knees, darkness working its way through the smallest of openings in his armor. With that done, Master Eraqus looked to the blond and instantly saw the resemblance to his former pupil…

"Ventus… looks like this time… I was able to save you. Though I fear it wasn't a permanent fix, only tempering yourself to darkness will allow you to use it without ill effect." Eraqus noted before hissing and gripping at his left arm as it started to shake and spasm. "You know, after all that happened, all I did… I never got to say, how proud I was of you Ventus. Or Terra. Or Aqua… I never got to tell any of you how proud you all made me, each so strong in your own way." Master Eraqus noted mostly to himself, and then looked at Master Keeper for a moment. "Aqua has the original one; it is hers now… but maybe…" He mumbled quietly before reaching for the blade with his darkness coated hand and touched its blade. As soon as he did darkness crawled over the light weapon and changed its form more suited to the blond haired seeker.

Its color-scheme was inverted for one, turning white where it was black, black where it was white, and blue in the red sections, while the keychain turned into a white upside down version of the key-bearer crest with a blue cats eye in the center, and the E shaped teeth changed into N shaped teeth. "Now then, what to call you then?" Master-Eraqus wondered to himself before smirking slightly as he looked at the sleeping Naruto. "How about, Teachers Pride." Nodding his head as the name seemed appropriate in some way, Master-Eraqus looked it over for a moment before placing it into Naruto's hands and pushing himself up to his feet.

"You still have a journey ahead of you Ventus, and I… I have much to make right. I hope in some way you know I was wrong to attack you, and perhaps… you even forgive me for doing so." Eraqus mumbled while walking over to the sword he had wielded as Saint and picked it up before swinging it a couple of times. "I have wronged more than just you though, I have brought such horror to the worlds with the Soulless… and this is a wrong that I have to right." Eraqus stated before crouching back and opening a corridor that was surrounded by light. "As such, I will make right the wrongs I did." Eraqus stated while walking into the corridor, leaving Naruto lying on the ground, his form briefly covered by Darkness as he was then returned to his Gargoyle shape…

TBC…

AN: First of all, Lord Pain is in no way me, he is an old character I created years ago, thus is where my Pen-Name comes from, he is the "Secret Boss" for this fic, and might make an appearance in future stories. I chose to use him as I had already added The Pain of Wrath, 25 of 26, earlier on who fought Vanitus. Here are some links to pictures based on this story, Note, remove spaces to see…

Five Soulless Types: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=48#/d4hauc0

Soulless-Paladin: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovim5

Court Soulless-Inquisitor: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovj69

Court Soulless-Saint: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovxoa

Court Soulless-Redeemer: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovjgj

Court Soulless-Seraph: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovjrl

Black Soulless-Heretic "Angela": http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovk7g

Black Soulless-Infidel "Zero": http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovkjt

Aqua and Naruto pic: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4hlfc8

Gargoyle Naruto 2: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=48#/d4hb331

Take your pick, they are both the designs I think of for his Gargoyle form, either one works so it doesn't really matter which one you prefer…

Gargoyle Naruto 3: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4hlgt0

Gargoyle Naruto + Seeker Armor: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4owftz

Relm, Shadow, and Ventus: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4imvud

Early Naruto Design + Dark Heart Keyblade: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4imwh8

The Neo-Shade: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4imwxh

Early "Shadow" Disguise design: http: / 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4imx8w

Shadow Disguise, Genji-Armor, Genji-Helm, Genji-Glove, Genji-Shield, Dragon-Boots, Genji-Blade, Genji-Key: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4iv9j5

Naruto, Xion, and Xine The Seekers of Darkness: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4k8zs6

The Brink of Ruin: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4k904f

Black Soulless-Nightmare / Soul-Blade: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovkuk

Young Xine, Young Andross (Seraph), and Will (Dusk): http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4n29ow

Spyro The Dragon Style Naruto Concept Art: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4hdnxb

Thunder-Cats Keyblade Concept Art: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4imzaj

Early Gargoyle Naruto Concept + Gargoyle Seeker Dark-Armor: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4iv916

Lord Pain and Loss: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4n2acz

Annoyance, Temptation, Fear, Betrayal, and Love Unsealed: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovh7q

Acolytes / Sealed Guardians of Pain: http :/ 26lordpain. deviantart. com/gallery/#/d4ovhmv

Naruto's Keyblade's…

Dark-Heart…

Soul-Blade…

Void-Gear…

Vorpal-Key…

One-Winged-Angel…

No-Heart…

Lost-Memory…

Teachers Pride…

Genji-Key (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Other Weapons:

Silver-Short-sword…

Silver Throwing Knives…

Blitz (Demonic-Shotgun)…

Gloria (Demonic Knife)…

Genji-Blade (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Glove (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Shield (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Helm (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Genji-Armor (Ninja / Samurai Only)…

Dragon-Boots (Ability Added, Jump)…


End file.
